Different Life
by purplepheonixowl
Summary: Ponyboy, a cute three-year old, is taken from a nursery school. And raised in New York! Please Review!
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: If I owned The Outsiders, I wouldn't be writing on here.**

**Chapter 1-Missing Two's**

**Frank (aka: Kidnapper) POV.**

"Hey Frank, you sure it's safe. Robbing this nursery school I mean?"

"Yeah, why won't it be?"

"Well, we just took kids not five miles from this little town. They'll get suspicious."

"Look. Boss Man said that we had a certain quota of kids to fill before returning to da big apple. Right now, we're one below that. This will bring us above."

I couldn't believe Lou was questioning me now. The Boss Man had warned us that if we came up short, this was it. We were done for. If keeping my life meant kidnapping a whole bunch snot-nosed brats, then so be it. I raised my binoculars once more.

"Okay Lou. The nursery school is about to begin. Do you know what you're supposed to do?" He nodded beside me.

"Go in. Act like a father. Pick the cutest kid I can find. Take him outta school."

"And what age are we looking for?"

"Between 1 and 4."

"Good. You have six minuets to prep." I hoped against all hope this would work. It was just one lousy kid. We had just stolen eleven not three days ago. I watched the day care center as the last of the parents left the building without their youngsters. Despite the fact that we were at least a half a mile away from them, I still heard the cutesy bell that rang, signaling the begin of a why bother school day.

"Okay Lou, three minuets. What's your withdrawal excuse?"

"Sick grandma."

"Good. Good. Remember to get a cute one." Lou nodded and took several deep breaths to control himself. I snorted. You'd think after three years of kidnapping young kids and selling them would have made Lou used to it all. But no, he was still just as jittery as his first day on the job. Lou finally jumped out of the truck and began to head across the two wide streets in front of the daycare center. While I waited I thought about what we were doing. What we were really doing. The Boss Man, a man I have never seen before, pays us top dollar to go to crappy towns like these and kidnap cute little kids. Then, he would put them in a orphanage type place until they got sold to rich people up in New York. Whoever the hell came up with this idea ought to be stoned or something. It was just plain evil. But it sure paid good money. I straightened in my seat when I saw Lou running across the street with a screaming kid in his arms. Great. He had gotten another screamer. This one looked two, maybe three years old but was cute as hell. At least Lou had nailed that part. He threw the kid in the back and got into the passenger seat.

"Alright, got the kid. Let's get on the first plane to New York. The more we're around here; the more likely we are to be caught." He had point so I hit the gas and headed for the nearest airport. Three towns over.

**A/N: Short Chapter, I know. But next one promises to be longer! Please Review**


	2. Discovery Gone

**Disclaimer: If I owned The Outsiders, I wouldn't be writing on here.**

**Chapter 2-Discovery/Gone**

**Margate Curtis POV.**

It had been an extremely busy day for me. Not only did I have top work my half shift down over at Dingo's, but I also had to drop soda and Darry at school, pick them up, and do all the housework. I decided that just for today I would drop Ponyboy, my two-year-old baby off at Nursery School. I usually don't, it cost a lot to send him there, but I was sure my boss wouldn't let bring my baby to work again and Darryl couldn't take Pony into his office, it was always so busy. As soon as dropped off Pony, I felt that I shouldn't have. Like something bad was going to happen. I shook it off though. I was way too busy to be having premonitions. On my way to work from the nursery School I passed by a green truck with two men in it who seemed to be nervous about something. I ignored the feeling again and went to work.

_**Several Hours Later…**_

Ugh, I couldn't believe what a dick-head my boss was! He knew that I worked a half shift and yet he still kept me over. By four hours. I was going to have to pay a bundle to nursery school for watching Ponyboy this long. I didn't know have it in our budgets! I sped all the way down to the local elementary school just as it let out and picked up Soda and Darryl Jr. before I was off toward the direction of the nursery school.

"Stay in the car boys. Mommy will be right back." Darryl looked up from his book and nodded. Soda just kept playing with his shoe.

"Hell. I'm here to pick Ponyboy Curtis." I said to the perky receptionist as I dug around for my check book. She frowned.

"Ponyboy is already gone." I stopped digging and looked up

"What do you mean he's already gone?"

"His father picked him up earlier." Darryl had been by here? I thought he was staying late. I started to put my check book away but she stopped me.

"Umm, you still owe for today's session. I sighed. Of course Darryl would pick up Ponyboy but leave me to pay. I hastily wrote out the owed amount a got back to the car. Darry looked up as I sat down.

"Where's Ponyboy, Mom?"

"You're father picked him up without telling me. Come on, we need top get home. I need to put dinner in the oven." Darry nodded and rebuckled his seat belt. As I drove down the familiar road home, I thought about Darryl picking up Pony. It was so sweet of him to pick the baby up for me, even though he was probably swamped with work. When we got home the house was dark. Huh. Darryl must've taken Pony to the park or something. They'd probably be back soon. I took the raw meatloaf out of the freezer and stuck it in the oven while Darry sat to do homework and Soda started playing with his cars. Just as I put the meatloaf on the table, Darryl burst in and set his briefcase down. He scooped Soda up in a big hug and asked Darry how school had been. It was only then I realized he didn't have our other son.

"Umm, Darryl sweetie?" He looked at me through the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"Where's our son?" He looked at Soda and Darry, obviously confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Where is Ponyboy?" He still looked confused.

"Where… ever you put him I suppose." HE wasn't getting the question.

"You picked him up." I clarified. He looked shocked.

"Me? I just got off work! How could I have picked him up?" Wait, but the woman had said that his father had picked him up. Yet his father was denying it. I began to raise my voice.

"Darryl, Are telling me you did not pick him up!" I shrieked the last part, which caught the attention of out two older sons. We usually tried not to yell around them, so they wouldn't pick up the habit. Now I was slowly walking toward Darryl, wooden spoon from mashed potatoes in hand. HE backed away.

"Honey, I told you I was swamped with work today. I didn't have time to pick him up. Do you want me to go right now?"

"NO Darryl! Ponyboy isn't there. The lady said he was picked up earlier by you, his Father!" He looked confused again.

"Honey, I haven't left work all day!" Then it dawned on me. Darryl hadn't gotten Ponyboy. Yet the Lady clearly said his father had gotten him. Who had my baby? Where was Ponyboy?

"We need to go to the nursery school now." I said, but came out a sickly sounding cry. Still, Darryl got the meaning of because in a flash I was in the car and we were on our way back to the nursery school. All the while, my mind still cried: _WHERE IS MY BABY!_

**Frank POV. (An hour after the kidnapping.)**

The kid had thankfully given up screaming ten minuets into the ride and we were currently boarding the plane. I went up to the ticket lady.

"Three please. To New York." She nodded and began tamping some thick papers.

"Are you traveling with a child sir?"

"Yes, a two year old." I didn't know this for a fact; I wouldn't be questioning the kid till we got him to the Boss Man. The lady nodded and asked a few more questions before charging me for the tickets. Damn flying was expensive. Good thing the Boss Man was paying. Soon, we had dragged the reluctant tot onto the plane and I watched as we took off into the air. All we had to do was deliver this kid and we were done for a while. I looked down at the kid. He had his eyes shut tight and was sitting cross armed in the chair. He had real pretty hair, a red-brown combo and he was real quiet. I think quiet kids went for a lot of money. They where easily made into trophy kids. I sighed and relaxed for the rest of the flight.

_**A Few Hours Later…**_

Finally, we had made it! There was no way to catch us now! During the flight, the kid had gotten all fidgety and now h was throwing a fit as I carried him out of the busy airport. No one stopped to even look our way as I hailed a cab with Lou. I didn't think we would ever make it to the Boss Man's pent apartment, but we did. I had decided do give him this kid personally, I knew he would make a lot of money off of him and I wanted paid double. He let us up on the third buzz. Let me tell you, this guy must make unbelievable dough doing what he does. The stars leading up were shiny and clean and he had maids running all over the place. I had left Lou downstairs, he wanted no part in this kid, fine by me, more money. I walked up to a receptionist desk.

"Hi Lillian" I said, reading the name plaque, "I would like to make a special delivery to the Boss Man." The skinny redhead looked at me disdainfully but stopped short when she saw the kid.

"Is this you dozenth?" Wonder how she had known.

"Yep, and I want paid double for him."

"Why?'

"He's cuter then the rest." She rolled her eyes but waved on through to a big pair of oak doors behind her. Guess she agreed. I couldn't help but pause outside the door, making Lillian raise an eyebrow at me. I mean, c'mon, this was the first time, and probably last, I would be the first I ever saw the Boss Man. I had to make this meeting count. The kid was getting fidgety again so I rushed through the two doors before he could pull anything.

The first thing that felt as I entered the office was excitement. The second was the industrial heater that this guy had. Damn, that must have cost a pretty penny. As I my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the room, his windows open, I saw a short fat man sitting behind a huge oak desk. Was he the Boss Man? I had always imagined him a tall strong man or something. Someone to be afraid of, not a little chubby guy. He looked up from his work when I stepped in and scanned me with small beady eyes before barking,

"What do you want?"

"Uh, I'm here to drop a kid off."

"You know there are special drop off's for children."

"I want double for this kid." I nodded at the kid, who was quietly taking in the office. The guy behind the desk looked at the kid and then back at me.

"He's better than the most of the kids caught before him and he's quiet." The Boss Man digested this before motioning for me to come closer. He got up and waddled around the desk. Damn, he was fricking huge. Boss Man waved his hand at me, toward a chair and bent down toward the kid.

"Hello," He started in a fake polite voice, "I'm Uncle Boss! Can you tell me what your name is?" The little boy got shy and backed away a little but answered.

"Ponyboy." Boss Man nodded. What kind of name was that?

"Oh, that's interesting. Can you tell me how old you are?" The kid held up two fingers.

"Oh you're two?" Ponyboy nodded. Boss Man waddled back behind his desk, writing on some papers. I thought he was going to dismiss us when Ponyboy spoke up for the third time.

"I wan mommy." Boss Man looked up from his papers at the small boy just visible below his desk.

"Don't worry young man, we'll find you a good mommy." He then looked back at me, as if he just realized I was still there.

"I'll give you a full pay and a half pay for me." Of course he was going to cut it short. I hadn't really expected him to pay a full two payments for one kid, but one and a half was good enough. I nodded my agreement.

"Good, now take Pony boy to the drop off center by Bloomingdales and go away." I nodded again and dragged Ponyboy back out of the room before the Boss Man got mad at us for interrupting him. I nodded at Lillian on my way out and she gave me another eye roll. Gotta love the sassy red-heads. Lou was still sitting in the cab, waiting for us, and the cab-driver was getting mad.

"You pay for me sitting here for a half-hour!" But he went to where we told him to go.

The store Bloomingdale was bursting with business and so many people were going in and out of Bloomingdales that no one paid us any mind. New Yorkers usually don't. The run down 'orphanage' was in fact a building that served many purposes. Not only did it house several kidnapees waiting to be 'adopted', it also served as a hide out and drug center for all the criminals in downtown New York. I left Lou in the car again and took the quiet two year old up to the front door.

"Who is it?" A gruff voice asked when I knocked on the door.

"Frank. I have a drop off." I waited until the door lock clicked open before letting myself in. One the downstairs floor, the usual drunks, and druggies were lounging, either waiting to sober up or come off a high. I had never much liked these places, not only did they let underage teens smoke and drink; they also did it in front of the smaller kids upstairs. Pony was looking around with a minimal level of interested. I picked my way through the smoky dark room and over people passed out on the floor, carrying Ponyboy through. The upstairs was much brighter and cleaner than downstairs. Here, Boss Man's ladies watched over the children until people came adopt them. I went over to a girl who usually was in charge.

"Hello, how can I-Oh Hiya Frank! What can I do for ya?" She said looking up from the appointment book on the wall.

"Got another drop-off Viv."

"Ah, made your dozen then? Good, the Boss Man won't have to waste ya. And who is this little cutie? Where'd ya get 'im?"

"Somewhere in Oklahoma. Real small town. Lou got him outta Nursery School."

"Oh, what's his name."

"He says Ponyboy." She gave me a look that I shrugged at. I couldn't control the kid's name.

"Well from now we'll call him Michael, okay?" (A/N: No relation to his middle name.) I shrugged again. I wasn't sticking around to see this kids future. Why did I care? She must have realized this because she frowned at me and turned away to lead Ponyboy, Michael, inside to the main room of kids. I hoped the kid got a good home as walked back downstairs to the taxi waiting for me.

**A/N: I realize that getting from Oklahoma to New York in a few short hours is impossible, but for the stories sake, let's pretend that that's not true. To answer Rinswan's question, Yes. Darry and Soda do play a major part in the story, but much later. You'll see them a bit from Dally's POV soon.**


	3. Adopted

**Disclaimer: If I owned The Outsiders, I wouldn't be writing on here**

**Chapter 3-Adopted**

**Random POV.**

Michael had been placed in the drug invested 'adoption center' a month ago, and yet no one had to come to see him. He kept calling out for his Mommy and Daddy, but the staff was used to this. They just set up distractions. A new toy, a story, or T.V. Finally, a month after being kidnapped, a fancy upstate New York couple came in to pick a child to adopt. After looking at all the kids and not liking any of them, the wife, a pretty little brunette, saw Michael sitting in a corner, playing by himself. She stopped one of the staff.

"Excuse me. Is that one up for adoption?" the woman, Viv, looked over to where she was pointing and nodded.

"Ya. That'd be Michael. He's two years old. None of the other seems to like him." The couple nodded and went over and began to talk to him. About and hour later, the adoption was complete. Ponyboy Michael Curtis was now Michael Tyler Henderson and he was now son of Richard and Wilma Henderson. Michael, who had long since given up calling out for his family, was ecstatic to be leaving the place. He really didn't like the other kids and it always stunk. The Henderson's took him home in a fancy street car, ready to go and raise their new little son.

**Extremely short, I know, but that was it for this chapter. The next chapter will be about Ponyboy at age 14. Please Review!**


	4. Twelve Years Later

**Disclaimer: If I owned The Outsiders, I wouldn't be writing on here.**

**Chapter 4-Twelve Hours**

**Ponyboy POV.**

The street was quiet as I crossed over to Delaney Street. The fact that not a soul was walking around made me even twitchier. People were always walking around this time of night and walking by my lonesome was just asking to get jumped. Especially since I was so close to The Bulldog's, my gangs rival gang, territory line. My fears were confirmed a second later when a quick shadow passed to my right. The Bulldog's must've scared everyone away from here, probably waiting for me to come. They don't like to jump you in broad daylight, with so many people to witness it. I looked at my watch again. Forty minuets to ten. Crap. Mom and Dad would flip if I was late again. I didn't have time to fight right now. I turned onto Welders Street. Ten blocks and I was home. I could here The Bulldogs were scuttling around, tracking me and waiting for the perfect time to jump me. I wasn't going to make it. I sighed and stopped. Better to stand up to them and get beat then to keep walking when I knew they were coming. That would make me out to look like a wuss. I didn't have to wait long. Jimmy, The Bulldogs leader, walked out of the shadow across the street and slowly walked toward me. I could see various Bulldog members coming up behind him.

"Hey punk. You know you're on our territory right?"

"No." He raised his eyebrows and stopped just short of the sidewalk on my side of the street."

"Oh?"

"Your territory ends in the middle of the street. I'm on my side of the line." I knew this wouldn't matter, but might as well tell him. He just smirked.

"You that shrimp kid in Tom's gang, ain't you? Yeah, Johnny told me you were a little smart ass. Guess I'm going to have to fix that, ain't I?"

I had just enough time to ready myself when he punched me in the gut. Any normal person would've been wheezing on the ground with that punch, but in my gang, we to tough to be knocked down with just one punch. I steadied myself and return his gut punch with a hit to the face. I felt with satisfaction, his nose break under my fist. Ha! Bet that'll leave a mark. The rest of The Bulldog's were there now and they landed all over me. I could barely hold up on my own with two people fighting me, definatley not a whole gang. Every part of me was being hit as I went down. They kept this up for what seemed for hours, but was probably just a few minuets. Suddenly, it all stopped. It took a minuet to register this. I looked up and saw the face of my gang leader, Tom, or Four Eyes as we call him, looking down at me.

"Hey Four Eyes." I said weakly. The guys had done a number on me, I was lucky to be conscious.

"Hey Bulls-Eye. You ok?" I nodded and got up with a bit of help from Lizard and Peachy, two more of our gang. Miraculously, I was able to stand and walk on my own. I knew that by tomorrow I would not only be sore, but extremely bruised up. How the hell was I going to explain this to Mom? She was going to freak when she saw me.

"So what did you do to piss of The Bulldogs now?" Four-Eyes asked as we began to walk down Welders Street.

"Guess I was walking too close to the line again. That and think they've been after me for awhile, you know, since I messed Johnny up." About a month ago, Johnny, a member of The Bulldogs and one of Jimmy's many little brothers, had had a run in with me not too long ago, and the result was me breaking his nose, four ribs, and several other small things. The idiot should have known better than to mess with me. Four-Eyes nodded.

"Knew he would get you back. Ain't it passed your curfew?" I looked at my watch and shook my head.

"Nah I got thirty minuets to walk home. That or I'm grounded for about the bazillionth time this month." Lizard chuckled at this. I looked behind me at the sound and realized that the entire gang excluding Lizard, Four-Eyes, and I had just disappeared into the shadows. It's funny how easy that is in New York.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, thinking about our own personal things. I was thinking about the gang. We were a large group rough teenage boys who fought for control over downtown New York. At first, in earlier years, we had just been a small group of friends, always hanging out, but then at age ten, that had changed. That was when the Allens had moved in downtown. The Allens were a large family who had about a gazillion kids. That's when the street war started. The Allen Kids wanted control, to bully people I mean. They loved to pick on the smaller people. Unfortunately, the whole gang, excluding me, lived in the general area that The Allens, later known as The Bulldogs on account of their looks, and were constantly getting jumped for money or just for fun. Pretty soon, it had gotten so bad that Four-Eyes had got the gang together so we wouldn't be beat up so bad. The Bulldogs saw us as a threat and had immediately turned enemy to us. Now every chance they got, they tried to beat the snot out of us. Usually while we were separated like tonight. Sometimes I wished in the poorer section of New York. It's not that I was ungrateful or anything, but I didn't really like my dad's money. What was the point of it. If I indulged like all the other boys I lived near, I would turned spoiled like them, always wanting more and more. The gang got that about me and were able to see around the fact that I was a rich kid. I almost never asked my dad for money, only for emergencies which usually involved the gang. My thoughts were interrupted by Four-Eyes.

"Hey Bulls, we're here man. Hurry inside. 'fore your mom flips out again." I nodded and walked through the white picket fence surrounding my fathers large estate. I waved goodbye to Lizard and Four-Eyes before running inside. Just as I opened the door, the clock chimed ten o clock. I breathed out a relieved breath. My mother was sitting on the couch, obviously making sure I got home on time.

"You're right on time." She said, looking a the chiming clock. I nodded and was about to head up the long staircase when she saw the numerous developing bruises I had all over me. Shit. How was going to explain. Looked like I was going to have to lie again.

"I got jumped." It wasn't a total lie. Technically I was jumped.

"By who?"

"I don't know. Couldn't see their faces." Okay, that was a straight up lie. Thank god I was such a good liar. She seemed to believe me.

"Well maybe we should take you up to see Doctor Eisner." I shook my head. Every time I got even a scratch on me, my mother would take me up to the expensive doctor just to make sure I had no infections. Maybe I could convince her I was okay. I hated the doctor's office more than anything. She got that look in her eye, the one she gets when she's ready to argue, so I intervened before she could put her foot down.

"Look mom, I'm alright. Just a few bruises. Not even some open wounds. I'll be okay." I gave the smile, the one that she just can't refuse. She sighed and I knew I had won.

"Alright, but at least put some ice on those bruises." I nodded. If I didn't she might have changed her mind. I ran into my father on the way to the kitchen.

"Whoa son. What happened to you?"

"Jumped on the way home. Mom says to put ice on the bruises." He raised his eyebrows.

"She isn't making you go to the doctors office?"

I shook my head. His eyebrows went up further, he was obviously surprised by my mom's leniency. Truth be told, so was I, I was sure she was going to drag me down to Dr. Eisner office by force. I moved around my dad and into the massive kitchen. I took a ice pack my mom keeps in there and pressed it to my eye, which was bruising the worst. While holding the ice pack to my face I picked up the book I had left on the counter. Sighing I put it back down. Another book I've read a dozen. I really needed to go to library. We had one her at the house, but it was full boring books about law and stuff. Not that I haven't read most of them, there just boring. After just sitting in the kitchen for a while doing nothing but trying help swelling go down, I finally decided to go to bed. Lord knew this was going to hurt worse in the morning, but I was really tired and wanted to go to bed. Since tomorrow was Friday, I planned to hang out at he gang 's apartment. I climbed upstairs and went to bed thinking about the gang again.

**So, how was this one? I hope it was better than the last chapter. More of Pony's life in the gang coming up soon! Please, please, please, please review!**


	5. The Gang

**Disclaimer: If I owned The Outsiders, I wouldn't be writing on here.**

**Chapter 5-The Gang**

**Ponyboy POV.**

When I woke up this morning, I at first didn't remember why I was so sore. Then last night came rushing back to me. I groaned as I pulled myself up and then stopped short. Crap. If my mom heard me groan, she would freak out and I would have to go the doctors. I may be paranoid, but I was certain she still had my old baby monitor hidden in my room somewhere. God I hoped not. I winced as I finished forcing myself up and limped to the bathroom. I couldn't help draw in a quick breath as I saw my face in the bathroom mirror. I had purple and blue splotches all over and the worst black eye I've ever gotten. Damn, those Bulldogs sure did a number on me. I pulled all my clothes off and stepped into the hot shower. I know I shouldn't have spent so long in there, but I couldn't help it. The hot water just seemed to wash all my cares away. I was forced to get out however, when the hot water turned cold. Now In was going to hear it for using up all the hot water. I wasn't as sore now, and my limp all but disappeared as the water had kind of unwound me. There was nothing I could do about my face, but those would disappear in a few days, I just had to wear a hat or whatever when I was out. I walked downstairs and saw my mother in the living room, eating by herself.

"Hey mom. Dad already leave?" She looked up and grimaced, like I knew she would, but nodded. I went to the kitchen and got a muffin then joined her in the living room. I hated it when she ate alone. Kind of made me feel crappy.

"What are your plans for today sweetie?" My mom finally broke the silence.

"Going to hang out with my friends." Is aw her grimace out of the corner of my eye? She knew my friends were fairly rough and poorer than we were, but she didn't know about the whole gang part. If she did, I sure wouldn't be with them.

"Well okay, but be careful. No rough housing. Your already bruised enough. Be home by ten again." I nodded as I finished my muffin and got up to leave.

"I mean ten Michael!" She called as I headed outside. Jeez, that woman was such a worry wart. I pulled my baseball cap down further and quickly walked through the neighborhood. I hated all the looks on a daily basis because of my looks, I didn't need it magnified because I had a bruised up face. I hurried through my neighborhood and didn't slow down until I got to down town New York. It was bustling as usual, with shoppers and business men doing their daily thing. I met up with Lizard on the corner Fourth and Williams.

"Michael. How ya doin'?" I knew he was asking about the fight last night. I lifted my hat a bit and he winced at the sight of my face.

"Ouch. You look like you got hit with a truck or somthin'." I chuckled.

"Where you headed?"

"Same place you are. Was just waitin for ya." More like protecting. I knew that Four-Eyes woulda' put someone on baby sittin duty after last night.

"You know, you have to watch me all the time Lizard. Last night was just an out of the ordinary thing." Lizard just shook his head and began to walk down Fourth Street. I ran to catch up.

"You think the rest of the gang is there?" I asked, just to make conversation. Lizard wasn't much of a talker; you kinda had to start the conversation.

"Yeah. Gadget ad Twitchy passed by not to long ago." Gadget and Twitchy closed to where I did; their parents middle class and everything, and they were brothers. I couldn't think of anything else to say so I just said nothing. The gang's hang out was actually a cheap apartment bought by Four-Eyes about a year ago. It was a place that any member of the gang came to to blow off steam or hide out for a while. It was a shitty apartment, but I kinda liked it. Some member of the gang was always there and it was a great place to hide-out. I pushed the buzzer for the apartment and waited as someone rushed to get it.

"Password?"

"Yankee." The password rule had been put down by Four-Eyes after a member of The Bulldog gang had managed to get in under the alias of a member of our gang. So far, they hadn't been back. The door buzzed so I pulled it open to let in Lizard and me. The hallway to the third floor had a busted light, so we ended up walking in silence and darkness, so it was a bit more creepy. It's not that I usually talk, in fact, today I was talking more than usual, and I just kinda hate complete silence. We finally reached Apartment 3B, the gang's lair. I pushed the door open and was met by the loud sound of chatter. Yep, most of the gang was there by now. Our Gang, Officially known as The Street Rats, was made up of about thirty guys. Thirty extremely tough muscled up guys. I was the baby of the gang at age of fourteen, yet could take any of them down. Each member of the gang had his own special name. We almost never called each other by our real names, except for Lizard, who just does it to get under our skin. My own Street Rat name was Bulls-Eye because, well, do I really need to explain that one? Lizard swept past me and into the dim room. The gang hates to open the blinds at any point in the day, reasons unknown to me, so it was always just a dim light lighting up the room. Since Four-Eyes, named for his old nerdy glasses he used to have to wear, had bought the apartment, the guys had already gone ahead and decorated the place how they wanted. Four comfy sofas lined the wall and whole wall was dedicated to the gang's members. The rule was, when a member of the gang turns thirteen, he puts his name, and chosen insignia on the wall via spray paint. Mine had taken all day to paint, but was pretty awesome. It was a red and white target with my name over it. I was pretty proud of it. My smile dropped off my face when I went over Thumper's name. Thumper had been one of the biggest members of the gang but had left when I was twelve. His father or whatever had dragged to some desolate state and we had never seen him again. He was by far my favorite member of the gang and I knew deep down I was his. But now he belonged to a different gang, and we were stuck here with his insignia. Thumper was the one who had taught me how to fight in the streets of New York without getting myself killed. I still missed him. I didn't realize I was staring off into space, because pretty soon Spiderman, named for his amazing ability to climb and jump from place to place, was waving his hand in front of my face and dragging me to one of the couches.

"Earth to Bulls. Hello, you there." I snapped out of it before he hit me. He's been known to do that if you space out too long.

"Yeah Spider." He nodded and turned to Ducky, who's laugh sounded just like a ducks, and began to carry out some insane conversation. Those two had a half a mind put together. I sighed and looked around the room at all the familiar faces and noises.

Lizard come loping out of the kitchen with a beer in one hand and a cola in the other. I rarely ever drank beer; I liked to keep pretty clean.

"You okay kid?" I nodded.

"Yeah, just thinking."

"'bout?" Leave it to Lizard to pry.

"Nuthin. Just stuff." Was my-oh-so brilliant comeback. I hated it when people pried. My mother, teachers, member of the gang. That's when Four-Eyes came into the room, with an envelope in his hands.

"Hey guys, c'mon knock it off. I've got something to-Hey up and listen!" If four-Eyes couldn't put order into the gang by just asking politely, he usually went to yelling, which always worked. Every straightened up and waited for Four-Eyes to begin.

"Alright. I just received an envelope." He paused, as if to build up suspense. All he got was Spiderman saying

"Oh, good for you Four-Eyes. I have one at home." And the rest of the gang laughing. Four-Eyes frowned.

"Anyway, it's an envelope for the FSF." That stopped the snickering and I felt my heart quicken. The FSF? I had completely forgotten about it. The Final Street Fight was a fight that all the gangs in New York attended at the end of the year. Their was about twenty small gangs around, so it lasted forever and was extremely fun. Last year I had taken down Chino, the leader of the upper north gang.

"When?" I asked.

"Two Weeks. August Fifth." That didn't seem that far away. I needed to start training if I was going to help beat The Bulldogs. Last year they had pulverized us. The rest of the day was spent wrestling with each other to help us prepare. Finally, an hour to midnight, I left and went back home.

**There should be a bit more action in the next chapter, Promise! Please Review**


	6. Caught RedHanded

Disclaimer: I don't own!

Chapter 5- Caught Red-Handed.

Ponyboy's POV.

This was it. The fight. I was nervous, excited, and scared. All at once. The only problem was, I had to sneak out from under my over bearing parents noses. This was going to be difficult. Especially since they just decided they wanted to watch the late show! Ugh, parents. I waited, listening at my door, long after my allotted bedtime. After what felt like an millennium, I heard my parents slowly climbing the stairs, on their way to bed. The hall light switched on and I held still while my parents listened in through my door. Making sure I was asleep. They did this every night, and it was getting creepy. Kinda like the whole baby monitor thing. They obviously felt that their only child was asleep, because they carried on and the hall light switched off. I slowly opened my door and peeked out. Their door was closed but the light was on. I waited and waited, listening while they prepared for bed, and when the light switched off, I crept out into the hall. I carried my shoes under my arms, as not to make any noise to wake my parents, and softly tip-toed down the stairs. Instead of going out the huge front door, which I had been caught numerous times doing, I went through the kitchen out the back door. After the last time they had caught me, my dad decided it was time to booby-trap it. Unfortunately for him, he forgot to do the back door. Sucker. It was a longer walk around to the street to the front of the house, but it was worth it. There was energy in the air. I could taste it, hell, feel it. The tension from the upcoming fight had even reached upstate New York. This was going to be big. Huge. I ran the rest of the way, down my street, to the end, where the car was waiting.

"Damn Bulls-eye, could you be any later? They've probably started without us!" Lizard quipped from the front seat, his loud, obnoxious voice shattering the silence.

"Nah. They wouldn't start without us."  
"Your 'rents give you a hard time?"

"No, they just wouldn't go to frickin bed."

"They never do." I jumped at the sound of Four-Eye's voice. Holy Crap, I hadn't known he was here.

"Hey Four-Eyes. Thought you'd be with the rest of the gang." He gave a noncommittal grunt. I rode the rest of the way in silence. Tonight was the night we would beat the rest of the gangs, including the bulldogs. I couldn't wait.

It was dark in the alleyway the fight was to be held at. I could here dogs barking, horns, and just the regular sounds of New York. The alleyway was huge, it had to be. If it hadn't been, all the gangs would never fit. I got out of the car and stretched. The night air was buzzing with even more tension. I swear, you could break it with a knife. I followed Four-Eyes and Lizard over to one section of the wall, I could see the rest of the gang waiting.

"Hey Bulls-Eye. Nice night for a fight, eh?" Lizard asked, leaning against the wall with the others. It was. It sounded malicious, but I couldn't wait to hit someone, especially Jimmy. More and more street thugs come in, joining their gangs, waiting for the huge fight to begin. I looked around at all the gangs, it was a big turn-out this year. It looked like half of new York had shown up. Probably did. I lit a cigarette while I waited. Another thing my parents would freak about if they found out about my whole 'secret life'. The secret calmed things down a bit, and before I knew it, Jimmy was standing up on a dumpster giving the usual dumb ass before fight speech. You know, all those who are weak better leave, blah blah blah. I waited, targeting Jimmy with my frustrations. God, why was he taking so long. Pretty soon, though, he ran out of things to stall with and he back to his corner. Now we just had to wait for someone to start it. I looked around, seeing who would step up first. There was a whole bunch of wild looking kids there, all waiting to see some bloodshed, yet they didn't seem to want to start it. I was contemplating starting it myself and was just about to put it out of my mind when frickin' Jimmy got back on his soapbox trashcan and spoke.

"Okay, since no one wants to begin, I guess I will." He then looked directly at me and jumped down. Aw Dammit all to hell! The crowd parted for him, like Moses and the red sea, and he walked in deliberate loud steps toward me. I flexed a bit and stood tall. He stopped directly in front of me. He sneered his yellow teeth at me and took a swing. Which I dodged and returned with a right hook that made him stumble. The fight was on! I heard yelling around me and could have sworn the ground shook. Me and Jimmy were focused on each other now. We both had our switchblades out and were jabbing at each other, each trying to get a good hit in. Jimmy lunged out toward my leg and I tried to block it, but at the last minuet he pointed upward, toward my gut. It plunged in and I swore. I looked down to see jimmy's switchblade handle sticking out of my shirt, which was staining with blood. I looked back up, angry and hurt. Jimmy was looking at my shirt with satisfaction; the bastard was going to pay though. I pulled it out, the switchblade. It hurt a whole damn lot, but I kept a straight face the entire time, just for Jimmy. I watched in grim satisfaction as his faced first turned to surprise then terror as I approached him with both switchblades, one covered in my blood. Instead of just stabbing him as I thought I would before, I threw the bloody one at him. It hit right where I was aiming. Te meat of his leg. He fell with a little screech. I was about to approach him again when somebody backed into me, sending me reeling to the floor. I felt someone heavy step on my hand, to involved in his fight to watch where the hell he was going. I screamed out in sudden pain as my hand throbbed. I was about to try and pull myself up when something hard and blunt connected with the back of my head. At first everything went black and I had to fight to remain concourse. Slowly, my eyesight returned, but it was all fuzzy, like I was watching a bad channel. My hearing was off. I could hear the sounds around me, but only as if I were under water. My head hurt something awful, I felt like puking from the pain. I got to my feet, or at least I think I did. I wasn't so sure. My thought process was going berserk; it was trying to register the pain, leaving no way for me to think straight. I stood there, in the middle of a huge fight, swaying I'm sure, and feeling as confused as ever. Someone come right up to my face, and was yelling at me, but couldn't understand what. I didn't even know who the person was. He was shaking me, whoever it was, and it wasn't helping the head. I tried to concentrate on his voice, hear what he was saying. He was yelling my name, I think that was my name, and shaking me.

"Michael! Michael. The fuzz, their here, we gotta go. Come on man. Run, come on." He was pulling me now, but I couldn't make sense of his words. They were all gibberish. I was now trying to identify him. I think he was Lizard. Or maybe Ducky. What the hell was going on? Bright lights were going behind me in a pattern. Red blue white. Red blue White. They were irritating and so was whoever was pulling my arm. He let go and jumped up on a trashcan, indicating I should do the same. I jumped, grabbing onto the trash can lid, but my streanth was failing me now. I tried to pull myself up, but was too tired. Maybe I should lay down and sleep. Yes, that seemed appropriate. I ignored the yelling and pulling boy and dropped bak to the ground. It was wet now, I think it was raining. The pattern lights were close now and they had a faint high pitched squel that annoyed me. I ignored that too though. I needed sleep that's what needed. I let my mind wonder into a half sleep zone, watching the brightened allyway through half closed eyes. There were guys all over the place. Most where laying around on the ground, where they tired too? There were some guys though, who were walking around with bright lights, shining them on people. A brioght light appeared in my own face and a gruff voice sounded somewhere overhead.

"Son? Can you hear me? I need you to answer." I wanted to do what he said, but I just couldn't. No, sleep was what I could though. I closed my eyes all the way, letting my fuzzy vision and hearinf rest. I could still hear odd sounds around me, but I just let them go. I felt several hands on me an unidentified time later, and I was laid on a softer bed. Dryer too. They slipped something over my head, and suddenly breathing came easier. I hadn't realized it had been hard in the first place. The air blowing in my face from whatever they had slipped on me was sweet and clean. No smell of blood and dirt. Where was I. I didn't want to open my eyes though. I was too tired. Hands were still on me. Now they were taking clothes off me. I was annoyed by this, so I batted at there hands, or tried to. I wasn't sure if I was actually moving or not. I concentrated on the many voices above me.

"Stench the bleeding in his stomach, he's losing too much blood."  
"Get that I.V. hooked up; we need to get as many fluids in him as we can. "

"Get him to the hospital ASAP. Get him prepped for surgery."  
"Give him shot of morphine, I think he's coming to." The last comment was followed by a small sharp pain in. I opened my eyes just a sliver, to curiose on where I was to let it pass by, and was met with a bright white light above me. It was all white around me and I could feel myself getting sleepy. I turned my head before I passed out and I could've sworn the last thing I saw was a man in a white suit.

A/N: I am soooooo sorry to all my readers who have been waiting for my update. By the way, the gang doesn't come in for another like, four chapters. Sorry! I'm updating faster though and would LOOOOVE it if you reviewed my work!


	7. Alive

**Disclaimer: I don't own!**

**Chapter 6-Alive**

**Ponyboy POV.**

I was aware of the irritating beeping right next to my head and that was all. My head hurt, and I wondered if I had wondered home drunk last night. That would make sense, that beeping was obviously my alarm clock and it was time for me to go to school. I groaned and lifted a heavy arm to shut it off. Wait, where was my bedside table? And my alarm clock? I groped farther and farther out, trying to find it, when I lost balance and fell off the bed, Why was my bed so small? My whole body ached upon impact, and I couldn't help but groan in protest. The floor was definitely not my floor. This was hard, cold, and clean smelling. Mine was carpeted, soft, and smelled like dirty gym socks. I rolled to my side and yelped when the floor come in contact with my side. It hurt like hell. I opened my eyes, finally, and was amazed to be in a white room. An extremely clean and white room. I was in one of those perverted hospital robes, the one with no back, and I had previously been on a small white hospital bed. It had been uncomfortable too. I laid back down on the floor, my breathing getting suddenly hard, What the hell. My side, it was making breathing hard, I lifted up my robe and blanched at the huge bandage that was wrapped around my waist. There was a small red stain on the left side, where it hurt. I racked my brain, desperately trying to remember what the hell had happened. Oh yeah, the fight. There was that part with Jimmy, which explained the bandage, but not the head. I tried harder. After Jimmy had gotten his share of the pain, I had been hit, or kicked by someone. In the back of the head. After that, I couldn't remember anything. I pulled myself up on the bed, the floor was mighty uncomfortable, and laid back, trying to collect my thoughts. A thought suddenly dawned on me. If I was in a hospital, brought in by police people, then my parents knew. They knew about everything. The gangs, the street life, the fighting, even the secrets. This would help them understand why I had been acting up so lately. They would kill me, disown me, or in mom's case, go all weepy on me. I cringed. Crap. This wouldn't be enjoyable, that much I knew. The door opened then, and I jumped, afraid it would be my enraged father, ready to kill. Instead it was a white jacket man, and he was carrying a clipboard and an extremely phony smile.

"Well Mr. Henderson, you gave us quite a scare there. Thought we would lose you for a second." I was used to all this phony hospital crap, due to Dr. Eisner, so I certainly wasn't going to be fooled by this moron. I kept my silence as he went back to his clipboard.

"Well lets see here. Says here you got a knife wound and a bad concussion." He said, shaking his head. "Bad jumping?"

"I got those fighting in the streets." I said gravelly.. I also hated it when Doctors pretended not to know how you got your wounds. Especially when you were dragged in with about three dozen other kids who had the same damn wounds. The doctor merely raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I'm Dr. Wolf, but you can call me Eddie. Eddie Wolf. Dumb Ass.

"Do you mind if I check your vitals?" He asked, already reaching for me.

"Yes, I do. I want my family Doctor in here now." I hated to sound like a contemptuous spoiled rich brat, but there was no way I was letting this goofball handle me. He looked startled.

"Dr. Eisner. My family Doctor." I helped. He just nodded.

"Dr. Eisner is currently on family vacation. I'm his understudy. Great. My family doctor goes on vacation and I get his 'understudy'. Instead of asking this time, the doctor just started taking down vital readings. He was getting smart.

"Well, you seem to be making a fast recovery. You r parents were worried you would take to long."

"To long for what?"

"I...uh, maybe you should talk to them." Why was he acting so nervous? I was just wondering why my parents where wanting me to hurry up my recovery. He rushed out of m room leaving me in wonder. I was about to relax again when my door burst open, causing me to jump out of surprise. It was the gang. Or at least, a few of them. Four-Eyes, Lizard and Ducky. Lizard ran over to me and lifted me off the bed, hugging me.

"Oh thank god Mike, thought you were a goner for sure. I tried to get you out of there, but you were do out of it. You were climbing over the trashcan when you just let go. I was going to came get you, but Four-Eyes said no, the cops had already gotten you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, a concussion and a knife wound. That and a few bumps and bruises. I'm good." Lizard sat on my bed, still talking.

"You should have seen your parents when they brought them in, Bulls. I've never seen a woman cry that hard before. Not even when I break up with them. Your dad though, I thought for sure he would pass out, he was so pale. He was mighty scared for you. Then he saw us sitting outside your room and he got all mad. Told us it was our fault for this. That we had corrupted his young innocent son. Real tough stuff." He said, Four-Eyes and ducky nodding in consent.

"Ah, ignore him. He was just pissed this will probably go into the paper. 'Rich Banker's son a trouble maker'. You know the spiel" They nodded again.

"Hey man, we can't stay long, I'm sure you parents will be here soon and I'm sure they ain't gonna be happy you've been consorting with the sorts of us." Ducky said in a teasing tone, trying to get me to smile. It worked. I grinned as they walked pout the door. My grin, however, did not stay long, just as the guys left, mom and dad entered. Mom immediately burst into tears at the sight of me and ran over, hugging and not letting go. My dad just stood there, out of the way, watching with an odd expression.

"Oh my baby, what did those nasty street thugs do to you."  
"Mom they didn't do anything. I t was my own choice."  
"Oh, you're just covering for them. They've got you all mixed up and brainwashed. Don't worry though, we've come up with a solution." My mother said proudly, wiping her eyes.  
"You're not suing them are you?"  
"Oh, honey. Sue the likes of them. Why, they don't have anything to sue for. No, we're, your father and me, giving you a little vacation, you could call it."

"A vacation?"

"A place to get your mind set on the right things. Get rid of what those nasty boys have been teaching you."  
'Where am I going?"  
"To you Aunt Hattie's!" She said, as if it was a great thing.

"Aunt Hattie's. that old bat is still alive?"

"Michael! I'm surprised at you. Aunt Hattie speaks so high of you too."

"No she doesn't! she hates me." It was true. That old bat had never said one thing nice to me since I met her. Though, the feelings were mutual.

"She doesn't hate you. She agrees with us that spending some time with her will help you out." Of course she does!

"Besides, she says the neighbor hood is a nice place to raise a fine young man. We send you out in two weeks."

'Mom! I don't want to go to some crappy town in Oklahoma! I don't want to leave at all." My mother had a pained look as she exchanged glances with my father.

"Look, honey. We just don't think New York is safe for you anymore. You could've gotten killed. And those people you've been hanging out with, well, their dirt sweetheart. The people in Oklahoma are much better, I promise." Her pleading voice wasn't helping.

"So what, you're just going to ship me off to some old bat who doesn't even like me?"

"Michael! Now you knock that off! You were the one who participated in a illegal fight! Now you have to face the consequences. Now, you will go to Oklahoma, spend a year with you Aunt, and I don't want to hear another word against it." My father spoke up from his wall. He was turning a bit red, don't know why though. I opened my mouth to say more, but I was silenced by my mothers look.

"Well." She said, rubbing my hand. "I guess we better go. We have some stuff to plan. I love you dear, we'll be back tomorrow. That's how they left me, wondering what the hell would happen next.

**A/N: Short Chapter, I know, But more is to come quickly. Or at least, I hope so. I have plans for today and tomorrow. I'll try to update soon. Please Review!**


	8. Moving Away

**Disclaimer: I don't own!**

**Chapter 7-Out of New York**

**Ponyboy POV.**

I had spent the last two weeks desperately thinking of an idea to get me out of going to Loserville, Oklahoma. Despite all that though, I'd come up with nada. My parents came over every afternoon, telling me about the great things Aunt Hattie had told them, pretending that this was such a great idea. My friends in the gang always come over to. When I had told them about my parents' insane idea, they had all had different reactions. Ducky had gotten all sad and dopey, Lizard had started spewing out threats of what would happen to my parents, and Four-Eyes had got all quiet. Now they come over every night, once my parents had left, to try and help me come up with ideas. The closest we had come was me running away and living with Lizard. But that wouldn't work, now that mom and dad semi-knew who I hung with. I got anstyer and anstyer with each passing day. By the first week and a half, they had allowed me to go home, warning me that I would need to stay on bed rest for the next three weeks, and not to bump my head. Now I was lying in my room, contemplating the runaway theory once again. I looked around my room. Mom had done me the favor of packing all my crap away, so now I had bags and boxes piled by the door, waiting to be sent to Aunt Hattie's. I sighed. Why did I have to get caught? If it hadn't been for the head wound? I would have been able to sneak back in, as planned, and this wouldn't be happening. Today though, was my last day in my house? Where I had leaved all my life and grown up. Now I would live with an evil old bat from hell, for one year, and be forced to consort with some farm hick kids. What was happening to my life? I looked at the clock by my bed for the bazillionth time. Twelve o clock in the afternoon. Only three hours, twenty nine minuets, and fifteen seconds till I left. Not that anyone was counting. I could hear my parents downstairs, making calls in Oklahoma for me. They had already got me signed up for school, all I had to do was take the placement test, and they had also signed me up for some community service thing for troubled teens. Just what I want to do while trapped in hell. I closed my eyes, wishing this would all go away. I pretended I was back at the alley way that night. The rest played itself in my head. But, instead of being stabbed by Jimmy, I dodged it just in time, and got him in the gut. Then, I foresaw the person behind me who had tripped me; I dodged it, staying on my feet. Instead of kicking me in the head, he just keeps fighting. The cops were here now. Lizard comes and finds me. We run together, me a little faster, and make it back to the apartment. The other member s of the gang are slowly coming in. We all are busted up, but were having too much fun to care. We end up laughing at each others wounds, and I eventually head out to go home. The rain has stopped, and I sneak in, no problem. Mom and Dad don't wake up, and I creep back into my bed. The next morning is normal. I head out to hang with the gang, and nobody ever knows. Yes, _that's_ how it should have gone. None of this crap. I smile at the image of what should've happened. It would have been a lot simpler.

"What are grinning at dear?" my eyes fly open and I see my mother standing in the room. She must've come in during my daydream.

"Uh, nothing. What do you want?" she brightened at the question.

'Oh, your placement exam came in. You have time to take it before you leave." She handed me a stack of papers and a pen.

"Gee, thanks."

"Just call me hen you're finished." She drifted out of the room, still on her little hallucation of how this was a good thing for me. I shifted my eyes to the test. When I had taken the entrance exam for the private junior High I was at now, it had been damn hard; it was a school for smart people. This though, these were questions I had known in. I was done within minuets. Lousy public schools. It was too much to hope that Oklahoma had a private school like the one I attended, or at least used to attend. I called my mom back up and she appeared; a surprised look on her face.

"You're finished already?"

"Yeah, it wasn't like it was hard. This isn't a test for a private school is it?" Might as well ask. She looked sheepish now.

"No dear, they don't have any of those in Oklahoma. But I did sigh you up into a group that specializes in your smarts. They call themselves a tutoring group. You start going when you start school."

"When do I start school?"

"Well, their summer break ends in a week." Io merely nodded.

"So, are you ready to leave?"

"No, but I'm gonna have to any way, ain't I?"

"Oh, honey, you'll love this, I promise. It really will turn out good for you."

'Well at least I'll be in a nice neighborhood, eh?" I said, trying to ease her mind. She looked even more nervous about that comment.

"Well, Mikey, you see….."

"What?"

"About a year or to ago, your great aunt moved."

"To?"

"A different neighborhood. She was afraid the expensive house would suck away her remaining fortune, so she moved across town."

"You mean, to the East side?" Even I knew that in every town, there were tow sides of a city. Even in New York. The west, where I lived, was for the richest, always had been. The East though, was where the poorer, rougher people lived. My mother must've thought this new upset me, because she stumbled over herself trying to comfort me.

"Now dear, it won't be as bad as you think. She say's the current neighborhood is still very good. Less crime ridden than others. You'll be okay I swear."

My mother was starting up about how great Oklahoma would be for me, and how it would be a life saver. Puh-lease. I knew if I didn't cut her off soon, she would keep this up till I got on the plane.

"Okay mom, got it." She was hurt for a moment, I could see that, but she just replaced it with a bright smile and left the room in a cheery manner. I looked at the clock again. Well, my daydreaming and mom had killed an hour. I wished I could say bye to the gang one last time. This sucked royally. It wasn't as if I was the only one in the rich part of the neighborhood who screwed up and got sent to jail. Hell, just last week Rickie from across the street got hauled in for drunk and disorderly order behavior. You don't see _his _ass on a plane to Oklahoma. This was total horse crap. I shut my eyes again, hoping the scene from before would come back, but it didn't. I just lay there, by myself, listening to my parents move my stuff out to the car. Every once in a while, dad or mom would come up to get my stuff, but left me alone, thinking I was asleep. Good, didn't want to talk to them either. I knew my time here in New York was wasting up quickly, but I just couldn't think of anything else to do. Besides, I was on bed rest for a whole nother week. I couldn't bring myself to look at the clock, it would be pure torture to, but I was getting more and more nervous each time my parents put more stuff away. Somewhere in between my worrying and thinking, I fell asleep. I hadn't even realized I did until my mother shook me awake.

"C'mon darling. Your plane leaves in an hour. You don't want to be late!" I looked around. My room was almost bare now. My closet was empty, so was my dresser, which was gone, and all that remained were my bed, my table and some posters of James Dean on the wall. Even the clock was gone. How long had it been? Some clothes and shoes were thrust onto my lap.

"Sweetie, would you hurry? You're going to be late." Mom called as she left the room. That would be a bad thing? I looked at the clothes on my lap. Jeans, shirt, and….was that a Madres jacket? Aw, my mom knew I hated those things. In fact, all these clothes had the rich look to them, the one I tried to always avoid. This was just a beacon to get me beat up wherever I was going. But, then again, I didn't really have anything else, so I sighed as I started pulling on my clothes. I stood up and my legs were all sore, from the laying around I had been doing, I was trying to wake them up a bit when someone pounded on my door.

"Son, are you in there? We need to get going. Now!" My dad shouted from the other side. I rolled my eyes and started across the room. I pulled the door open just as he was about to pound again.

"Well, son, are you ready?"

"No, but that don't mean anything to you."

"Now, the only reason we're sending you away is because the city is getting too rough for you. This really is for your own good." What was with them and this 'for you own good crap'? It was getting on my nerves. I kept my mouth shut though, as dad followed me out of the room and down the hall. I went down the steps in silence. Mom was waiting by the door with a suitcase and a few envelopes.

"This is for you. In case you need anything on the way there." She said, handing me the suitcase and the envelopes. I opened them and checked to see what was inside. One had my airplane ticket; another a letter for Aunt Hattie and the last was stuffed to bursting with hundred dollar bills there must've been more than a thousand dollars in there!

"Just in case you need anything." She said with a sheepish grin. I nodded and went out the open door she was holding. The car was standing in the drive way, waiting for me, but it was empty.

"Where's all my stuff?"

"Oh, we had to send it ahead of time. Some guys over in Oklahoma will be picking it up for you. We all got into the car then, and it got deathly silent. My parents, too nervous to actually say something to me, and I, too pissed off to actually say something to them. Guess this was actually happening. I watched New York pass through the window. When we made it to the airport, my parents just kind of sat in the car, waiting. For what, I had no idea, but then dad unbuckled his seat belt and got out. Mom followed suit and I saw she had tears in her eyes. Couldn't make this easy for, could they? Of course not. It was awkward, me pulling my suitcase ahead of both my parents, who where making no effort at all to keep up. That kept up until I reached the gate I would have to leave out of. That's when they caught up. My mother was crying about how her little baby was leaving her. Why did she kept acting like this was my decision? Dad said how proud he was his son was stepping up like this. I wasn't stepping up! They were making me do this! They sat with me by the gate. Now I kinda wanted to get on the plane, just to get away from these weirdoes. I checked my ticket. Seat 161. Probably the last to board. However I wasn't. By some miracle, they called all children to board first. I jumped up with my ticket.

"That's me.' I said, turning to my sobbing parents.

"Well, honey, call us when you get to Aunt Hattie's." I nodded and turned to dad.

"Son, this is a proud moment in my life. To see my own son willing to make a change." He gave me a big hug then, then stood up all proud and stuff. I swear these people are idiots. I shook my head and walked up to the smiling flight attendant.

"Ticket please." I handed her the envelope which she took with another phony smile.

"You'll be in coach, sir." She handed back the ticket and waved me on. I took one look back and saw my parents standing there, waving. The flight itself was pretty boring. I got put in front of some little brat whose mother was either too lazy or smart to deal with him. The entire ride I was constantly getting my seat, He was also loud and obnoxious. I was half wanted to land and get away from him. The pilot made an announcement that we were now entering Oklahoma and I went ahead and risked a look. All I saw was farm land. God I was right. I was going to be living around a whole bunch of farm hicks. I relaxed back into my seat, trying to figure out what to do now. There was no way to escape the inevitable. I would have to live here for a year. Hopefully, it would be a fast year, then I could go home to New York, and everything would be fine. We were landing now. I put on my seat belt and waited. The landing was a whole lot bumpier than the take-off; I swear the pilot was trying to hit some of those air pockets. I think everyone on the plane was grateful when we touched down on land. I know I sure was. We had to sit there for another hour or so while the plane docked and we got off in an 'orderly fashion'. Which meant since I was in the very back, I had to stay on longer. It was hot in Oklahoma, and the airport didn't have any air conditioners, which made it down right sweltering. It wasn't hard to find Aunt Hattie. Imagine the meanest person alive, and then make them ten times meaner. Aunt Hattie was even meaner than that. She was a right down cantankerous old lady, something she loved to direct toward me. Not that it was just me, all of her family member, neighbors, and friends had to feel her wrath. She was waiting for me at the end of the exit gate, with a huge scowl to welcome me. Everyone around was giving her a wide berth, probably to afraid to be near her. She saw me instantly, and began walking toward me with her cane.

"You." She said, pointing to a passing baggage person. "Help my nephew with his bags." I looked down at my one bag in my hand and wondered if she knew where the rest of my stuff was. The man came up to me and nervously asked for my bag.

"That's okay, I got it."  
"Michael, don't refuse help when it is offered. Now give he nice man your bags." No one could refuse an order given my Aunt Hattie, including me, so I dutifully surrendered my one bag. Aunt Hattie grumbled her satisfaction and turned around toward the exits. We followed a good three feet away, all the way to the car. Aunt Hattie had obviously thought she was spending too much money on her other car too, cause now she had a crappy little beetle that appeared to be held together by rust. She motioned for the bag man to put my suitcase in the trunk then hobbled to the front of the car. He complied and waited for payment. Except, she wasn't getting out, just sitting there, waiting for me. I sighed and pulled out my money envelope. I didn't have any change, so I just handed him a hundred.

"Sir, I can't take this."  
"Why not?" This was always a respectable amount of money to tip a bellhop or bag person in New York.

"You only owe me twenty five cents."

"Then keep the change." The way I figured it, anyone who was forced to deal with Aunt Hattie deserved that much.

"What took you so long?" She screeched at me as I entered the car.

"I had to pay that nice man."

"Why, he did shoddy workmanship. Did you see the way he just flung the bag in like that?"

"That's not how it works Aunt Hattie."

'Well it should. Now put your seat belt on. We're late."

"Late for what?"

"Don't ask questions." She hit me on top of the head, making me wince. Same old Aunt Hattie. She started up the car and off we went, down the highway. The old woman sure could drive, that was for sure. In fact, the speed monitor never dipped below eighty five. I didn't think this old rust bucket could go that fast. I watched endless miles and miles of farm go by, wondering which piece of land I would have to call home. I t was getting darker and darker out, making it hard for me to see, and pretty soon, it was pitch-black. Must be a new moon. I looked up at the sky and was amazed. I had never seen that many stars before. New York was always too bright at night to see them. There must've been a billion, twinkling at me. It sure was pretty I hadn't realized Auntie had pulled up into a hotel until she stopped the car.

"Why are we stopping?"  
'It's getting too dark out. Can't see a damn thing out there. We'll have to keep going in the morning. Now get out and go get us a room." She must've known I had money, because she didn't give me any cash. I walked around the building until I found the office. There was a dumpy old woman sitting there, behind the counter, reading a magazine and chewing gum. She looked up when I entered.

"We don't let homeless kids stay here for free kid. Go away." She looked back down. I looked down at my clothes, which true, were a bit wrinkled, but still looked nicer than what I usually wore.

"Not looking for a free room. I have money. I need a room for my aunt and a room for me." I pulled out my money. The lady looked up at it then got a whole lot nicer.

"Well, two rooms for tonight?"  
"Yes please."

"Anything else?"

"No thank you."

"That will be 23.65"

I handed over a hundred. These things were endless. This time though, I got change back. Lots of change." I pocketed it and they room keys, then went back out to the car where I found Aunt Hattie asleep at the wheel. I sighed and contemplated waking her up. No, that would just make her pissy with me. I did however; leave a room key with her. I also took the car keys away, so no one could steal the car and Aunt Hattie, and locked all the doors. Then I set toward my room. It was in the upper level, and it stunk like crazy. But, hey, it was a bed, not the most comfortable, but a bed. I lay down before I was able to take my clothes off and stared up at the stained ceiling. It had been an oddly tiring day, and I still wasn't willing to spend an entire year with old Aunt Hattie. For the second time that day, I drifted off without even knowing it. I was awoken though, sometime the next morning by a loud pounding on the door.

"Open up you little thief. I know you're in there." It was Aunt Hattie. I cracked open the door, peeking out into the bright sunlight.

"Good morning Aunt Hattie. What can I do for you?"

"Don't give me those pleasantries. I know you stole them!"

"Stole what?"

"My keys. The car keys. And then you left me with these to try and fool me." She held up her room key. I sighed.

"I didn't steal them Aunt Hattie. There right here. It was so no one would take the car and you in the middle of there night." This made her stop raving for a moment, but she soon started again.

"Why did you leave me out there all by myself? I could have froze to death." Could she get any battier?

"Because, Aunt Hattie. You were already asleep and it had never crossed my mind you would freeze to death given that it's _summer_."

"Don't you take that tone with me, young man. We leave in ten minuets. Be in the car or I leave without you." Naturally. I walked down to the car to get my suitcase with Aunt Hattie hot on my tail. This would be hell. I rifled through the case till I found a decent enough shirt to wear. It was hard since my mother insisted on packing a whole, bunch of brand new Madres. I found a white t-shirt though and figured I'd just wear the pants I was wearing now. They were still clean enough. I handed Aunt Hattie the car keys, took her hotel key and went back to the room. I had only been gone for like, four minuets, but someone had already been there, cleaning up after me. The bed was made and my key was gone. I thought back to the lady from the night before. Creepy. I dressed quickly, fearing Auntie would leave without me and dropped the last key off in the empty hotel office before heading out to the car. Auntie was still standing there, but no it appeared she was smoking.

"Are you smoking?" I asked. She looked up with a cigarette dangling from her mouth.

"Damn straight. Now get in the car. We're late." I didn't even bother asking this time. Just got in and buckled up. She drove fast again, and I watched again as the country zoomed by. It was early in the morning, around seven as drove. We drove for hours. Around four in the afternoon though, we came up to town. It had the most population I had seen since I left the airport yesterday. I prayed and prayed and then thanked the lord when she pulled into it. It had a small wooden sign outside of it. Welcome to Tulsa. Ugh.


	9. The Real Gang

**Disclaimer: Read all the other ones!**

**A/N: Finally. Sodapop and Darry Chapter. Yah! Please Review of what you think about my story.**

**Sodapop POV (finally!)**

It was a sweltering hot day; I swear the pavement was melting from the heat. Mom had all the doors and windows open, in hope to catch the non-existent breeze that she thought might come through. Darry had taken to sitting right next to the air conditioner, hogging up all the cool air and dad just kept going to the refrigerator for cool air. I, though, had come up with a better way to keep cool. I took the old kitty pool me and Darry used as kids, and filled it with cold water. Now I was sitting out there on the front lawn, soaking in the cool water. I checked my watch. I would have to get out in about a half hour so I could go to work. I had finally convinced my mother to let me get a part time job at the local DX, just for the summer. I liked it so much, I was figuring I might get mom to let me quit school and go full time. Wasn't like I had done so well in middle school, I wasn't so sure high school would be better. Guess I would have to wait and see. I took another deep breath and looked up at the sound of a rattling car. Old Miss. Hattie was pulling up into her drive way. Aw shit. I looked around for a place to hide, but found none, so I just stayed put and tried to look inconspicuous. Everybody on the block hated old Miss. Hattie she was nuttier than peanut butter and just as mean. She lived right across the street from me, and her favorite pastime was to yell insults every time she saw me. Her car slowed as she saw me and she rolled down the window.

"What are you doing out on the lawn, you hood."  
"Hello Miss. Hattie. I was trying to beat the hot weather." I said in my best good boy voice. Ugh, I hated that old bat.

"Dirtying up your front lawn more like it. Just wait till I tell your mother. Boy, won't you get it." I just rolled my eyes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me." Dammit, if she told my mom I was being rude, I would have to sit through another two hour long speech on how I should be nicer to old ladies. She rolled her window back up, but not before I caught a glimpse of someone sitting next to her. That was odd, Miss. Hattie never had people over, never trusted them. I watched as she parked the car and yelled at whoever was next to her. The passenger door and a boy got out. Now I was really interested. Not only did Old Miss. Battie (A/N: I just thought of this) have company over, it was someone semi-young. I craned my neck for a better look just as Darry came out the front door.

"Hey Soda, mom says you need to get ready for work."

"Okay, I will; in a minuet. Hey come here." He walked over to me.

"See old Miss. Battie over there?"

"Hattie, Sodapop, Miss. Hattie. And yes, I do. Why?"

"She's got a boy with her." This got his undivided attention.

"A boy?"

"Yeah, youngish, maybe a ten."

"Any clue who he is?"

"No, but he went into the house. Let's go ask mom. She'll know." I got out of the pool and ran with Darry to the front door.

"Hey, mom! Where are you?"

"I'm in here, Sodapop. Why are you yelling?"

"Do you know of any boy who knows Miss. Hattie?"

"No, why?"

"Cause she just pulled up with some ten year old with her."

"Oh, that's just her great-nephew. He's here for the next year. Apparently he got in trouble back in New York." Of course mom would know. Miss. Battie was here at least twice a day, having tea with mom or just chatting. Not that I cared.

"She has a nephew?"

"Yes. And I expect both you and your other friends to be nice to him. I expect it's not easy just up and moving from such a big city to Tulsa, you hear."

"Loud and clear, mom."  
"Good, now go get ready for work. You'll be late. Oh and Sodapop?"

"Yes?"

"Be home in time for dinner. I'm inviting Miss Hattie and her nephew over. I also want you to look decent."

"Yes mother." I walked up the stairs to my room and picked out the rattiest thing I could find. Look nice for Old Battie. It was laughable. I knocked on Darry's closed bedroom door.

"What?"  
"I need a ride."  
"Can't you get Two-bit to take you?"

"C'mon Darry, I'm gonna be late!"

"Alright, alright. Stop your whining." He came out clad in only a pair of jeans and car keys.

"Ain't you going to put a shirt on first?"

"Nope. Too damn hot for a shirt." We were passing the kitchen when he said this and mom let out a protest toward his language.

"Sorry ma!" He yelled back, going out the front door. I looked across the street immediately and saw that the car was vacant as were the windows. I followed Darry to his truck and snuck a closer look as we passed by Battie's house. I was hoping to at least catch another glimpse of him, but I guess I was out of luck. I sat back in the seat in utter disappointment.

"You, know, they are coming over tonight. You see him then.

"I don't want to wait."

"You're way too impatient. Do you mind if we stop at the drug store first?"

"No, why?"

"Mom wants me to pick up her anti-depressants. She thinks she'll need them, especially since tomorrow is, well, you know." I nodded in silence. Tomorrow would be my brother's birthday. But not Darry's. No, it was Ponyboy's birthday. He would've been twelve tomorrow, if he was still around. Nine years ago, though, Ponyboy had gotten kidnapped from a nursery school. I remember that Mom was really upset, and wouldn't let me and Darry out of her sight after wards. Usually on his birthday and the day he disappeared, she gets all sad and dopey and has to take a whole bunch of anti-depressants. It's really depressing. I sat in the car and waited while Darry ran in and got the medicine. Today was going to be insufferable, I could tell. It was so freaking hot out. Darry come back with the white back and started up the car.

"You okay, little buddy?"

"Yeah, just really hot out."  
"Make sure you drink plenty of water."  
"Why?"

"Because that's what you do when it's hot like this. So you don't get dehydrated." I just shrugged my shoulders. He would know. He dropped me off at the gas station and I got out, ready to start a day at work.

**Darry POV.**

After I dropped Soda off at work, the rest of the day was mine. I went to the store and bought myself some clothes for school, and then I stopped by the malt shop to say hi to my girlfriend, who works as a waitress. After that, well there wasn't really anything to do, so I just drove back home. I was pulling into the drive way when something caught my eye. It was at Miss. Battie's-er Hattie's house. A boy, about ten or eleven, was sitting on the porch railing, smoking. He had reddish hair and was dressed in a bright white shirt and dirty pants. Yup, definitely a greaser. Wonder what he had done up in New York that was so bad. He caught me looking at him and I turned away, my face growing hot. I turned into the driveway and got of the car. On the way to the door I turned back to the boy. He was still sitting there watching me when a yell came from inside Miss. Hattie's house. He looked at the door then jumped of the railing. I watched as he ground the cigarette beneath his heel and trudged into the house, hands in his pocket. He left the screen door swinging behind him.

**Sodapop POV.**

It was the end of the work day. Me and my buddy Steve had fixed at least five cars and were covered in oil. I looked down at my blackened hands. Oops, there goes mom's nice dinner party. Hehe. I knew mom would send Darry to get me, seeing as I was attending the welcoming dinner. Steve was standing there when Darry pulled up. I hopped in the car and waited to go, but Darry rolled down the window and yelled to Steve.

"Hey, want a free dinner?" Steve looked surprised. Not that Darry was saying this, but that Darry actually had to ask. He hopped in the back and we were off.

"Hey Steve, can you hand me the clothes back there?" A bundle of clothing was passed up.

"Here, put this on Sodapop. Mom sent it with me. These are for you Steve. I looked down at the clothes on my lap. It was an extremely nice pressed shirt and a clean pair of pants. Damn, that woman was always a step ahead of me. But, hah, I still had oil on me, I thought proudly. I was about to put the shirt on when Darry stopped me. He reached into the glove box and pulled out some baby wipes. Argh. He had thought of that too. Darry gave me a pointed look and I began to clean up, handing the tissues back to Steve so he could clean up to. The clothes were stiff and odd; I had obviously never worn these before. Our street was coming up just as I finished tying my shoe.

"You seen him yet?" I asked Darry.

"Only this afternoon when I got back home. He was sitting on his porch smoking."

"He a greaser?"

"Seems to be one."

"Good. Don't want any Soc in the neighborhood." Darry just shook his head as they pulled up to the house. I saw a whole bunch of shadows in the window.

"Just who did mom invite anyway?"  
"She rounded each of the gang up as they came over. You should've seen Johnny, he nearly wet himself when she demanded he stay."  
"Why did she invite everyone?"  
"She didn't Dally never came over. I guess to make the new kid welcome."

"Whatever." Darry sighed at his my reluctance.

"C'mon, Soda, would you like it if you were the new kid and everyone just ignored you?" I just shrugged.

"Let's go." We got out and went up to the front door. Before Darry could even put his hand on the door knob, the door swung open to reveal Mom, who appeared to have been standing by the door, waiting.

"Oh, hello boys. You're a bit late aren't you?" She chimed in a forced polite voice. Obviously things weren't going the way she had planned tonight.

"Oh, and you brought Steve. Perfect." She let them in and directed them to the living room. Everyone was seated in various positions and were all trying to keep interested faces on while Aunt Hattie went on and on about some fight of '48. There he was. He was sitting on the couch next to Johnny. Boy, if looks could kill, everyone in the room would be dead.

"Um, hello." Mom spoke up, interrupting Miss. Battie from her _extremely_ interesting story.

"Michael, this is my eighteen year old son Darryl Jr. and my fourteen year son Sodapop and his friend Stephen-"

"Steve." Steve coughed under his breath. My mother took a moment to shoot him a glare.

"Boys, this Michael Henderson. He's Miss. Hattie's great nephew." Ponyboy just barely looked in our direction. I muttered a hello while Darry took a couple of long strides to shake his hand.

"Hello. It is very nice to have a new member of the neighborhood." Suck-up. He extended his hand to Michael. This was just left hanging there while Michael shot an annoyed glare at Darry. Confused, Darry dropped his hand while mom motioned for us to follow her to the kitchen.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked once we were solitude. "He looks ready to kill."

"I don't know. Ever since he got here, he refuses to talk to anyone. Miss. Hattie isn't helping though. She's just ignoring him. Soda, could you please try and get him to open up?" She pleaded.

"But mom, I have plans tonight. Me and the gang were supposed to go out tonight."

"You still can."

"How?"

"Bring him along. He might defrost."

"Getting him to defrost would take all night mom. Did you see the looks he's giving out?"

"You would too if you were forced to consort with stranger. And I'm sure living with Miss. Hattie isn't pleasant either." Ha, so she admits it.

"But mom-"

"Sodapop Curtis! The only way you're going out tonight is if you bring Michael along. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mom." Great, now I had a tag-along.

"Good. And Darryl?" She now looked at Darry, who was giving me smug grins.

"Yeah mom."

"You'll be tagging along. To make sure the boys make Michael feel welcome." I watched das his face dropped into a shocked look.

"But mom, I was supposed to be studying with my friends."

"Oh stop it Darryl. School hasn't even started yet. Don't think I don't know what you boys do when you're 'studying'!"

"But-"

"Darryl Shayne Curtis!"

"Never mind mom. I'd be happy to go along."

"Wonderful. Why don't go tell Michael this wonderful news?"

"Just peachy."

"Soda!"

"Sorry mom."

**A/N: Wow, lots of reviews for the last chapter! I wish people would be like that with my other stories. I would like to SexyRose for their wonderful ideas and support. THANK YOU! Please Review this chapter and tell me what you think!**


	10. Worst Night Ever Part 1

**Disclaimer: No more disclaimers. Ya'll know I don't own this!**

**Chapter 10-Worst Night Ever**

**Michael POV.**

Later into the after noon, after I had moved my one suitcase into the house, I as sitting out on the porch enjoying a fine cigarette and watching clouds, when a loud rumbling noise attracted my attention. I looked down to see the next door neighbor's truck stalking in the middle of the road outside of our houses. The driver, and older boy, was just sitting there, staring at me. When he saw me looking, he turned away and turned into his driveway. I, however, kept watching. Might as well size this guy up. He got out of the truck and I got to see for the first time who he was. He was tall and built like a trucker. Hell, he was bigger than Four-Eyes, and Four-Eyes definitely isn't a small guy. No way in hell could I take him. Just as he started walking toward the door, Auntie called me from inside. Old Bat! I saw the guy look at me as I ground out my cigarette and walked inside the door. Good, let him get a nice long look. Auntie was sitting in an old armchair holding a stack of mail, which _I_ had to get.

"What is this?" She held up and envelope.

"An envelope?"  
"Don't be a wise ass!"

Sorry. I don't know. What it is?"

"What makes you think I know? I wouldn't be asking you had I know. However, it's addressed to you." I think I feeling a headache coming on. I grabbed the envelope from my Aunt and headed out to the back to my room. My bedroom was big, not as big as my other one, but Auntie had given me the master bedroom. Apparently she was paranoid of large spacey rooms too. Fine with me, I had my own bathroom in my bedroom. It was empty, save for the enormous four poster bed that had come with the house. I sat down and looked at the envelope. It was from my mother. She must have sent this a few days before I left for it to be here now. I opened it and was met with several green bills. Jesus, the woman had sent me more friggin money. What part of I now live in the east side of town now? Was she trying to get me robbed? I stuffed this where I had put the rest of it. A hole located behind the head board of the bed. The headboard covered just well enough to hide it. I heard the phone ring out in the living and left it for Aunty to answer. The ringing stopped after a few rings and I figured Aunty had answered it. Until it started ringing about three seconds later. I sighed and got up. The phone was still ringing so I picked up.

"Miss. Hattie Henderson's house. Michael Henderson speaking." A loud woman's voice came over the other end.

"Hello? Is Hattie there?" I looked around and found the old lady snoring around in an old chair.

"No she isn't. What can help you with?"

"Oh, can you tell her that she and her nephew are invited to dinner at seven tonight. It will be at the Curtis's, right across the street." She yelled.

"I'll get right on that." I said. When I slammed the phone down and that woke up Aunt Hattie.

"Who was that on the phone?" I wondered if I could get away with lying. Probably not. Miss. Curtis would probably come over and bring us herself.

"The neighbors across the way. They want us over for dinner at seven."

"Well, then what are you waiting for, go get dressed. And help me to my room." After I dumped Aunt Hattie in her room, I went back out and called my mother.

"Hey mom, it's me."

"Oh hi honey. Did you get my package?"

"The money? Yes I got it. What would I possibly need that for?"

"Oh you never know. How is Oklahoma?"

"Hot."

"And Aunt Hattie."

"As batty as ever."

"Mikey…."

"Oh C'mon, you and I both know she is."

"Now, now, she's not that bad."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Darling, I would love to stay and talk, but me and your father are about to go out. I'll call you tomorrow, okay."

"Yeah sure." I hung up and just stood there. Not only was I in this crappy town in the first place, now I was going to the staring neighbors' house. I contemplating calling the gang up in New York, but let it go. Don't want to seem too desperate. I trudged back to my room and looked at my suitcase. My shirt was still bright white, but I think I could stand to change my pants. I sure hope my stuff got here tomorrow, I hated living out of my suitcase, I pulled on my pants and went to see what else there was I could do. Ooh, she had a piano. I sat down on the glossy bench and looked at the sterile keys. The entire piano was glossy and clean, as if she hadn't ever touched. This wouldn't surprise me. I pressed key and all the years of piano lessons just came rushing back. Sit up straight. Pinky on the E key **(A/N: To all you who know piano, please forgive me. I know nothing of piano.). **I tapped out few key to Symphony nine before the old bat came running out and screeched at me. I wasn't supposed to be touching her things. I sighed and retreated to my room for the rest of the late afternoon. I had no clock in my room so I had to wait until Aunt Hattie called me out. She was dressed in this hideous purple flower dress that was the most repulsive color ever. But it was naturally what she wore it.

"Let's go. We'll be late." This was it. I put on the meanest face I could muster and walked out behind Auntie. I would show these damn neighbors that I didn't need them. It was pitched black out on the street, I could barely see anything ahead of me. Just the lights across the street. I could see there were several shadows being cast across the living room window. Just how many people lived over there? Auntie was the one to ring the doorbell. A youngish woman opened the door with a wide smile.

"Hattie, you're here! And this lovely young man must be your nephew.

"Great nephew. His name is Michael Henderson."

"Oh, you're the young man I talked to on the phone earlier." Like she didn't already know that.

"Yeah."

"Well. It certainly is a pleasure. Do, come in." She said, catching my glare. Auntie led the way into the small living room. The living room held two kids and a older man. I would have thought that they were all neighbor kids, but they looked different. One had rusty hair and sideburns with grey eyes, another had darker skin, dark, greasy hair, and extremely dark hair. I could tell neither was related to the man sitting in a recliner. He looked a lot like the guy I caught staring at me earlier, except older. In could also tell that they weren't related to the woman in any way. So who were they? I sat down on the couch, next to the dark haired kid, who jumped a bit when I sat.

"Well, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself Michael?"

"I'm from New York.' I offered. I wasn't about to get chummy with these people.

"What part." I just shrugged. The lady got the hint and turned to Aunt Hattie.

"Hattie, dear, how has it been lately? You haven't been over in a while."

"Oh, it's these old knees. They cause such a pain."  
"Do mind keeping the boys company while I go and make a phone call?"  
'No not at all. Now boys, have I ever told you the story of my daddy in the Potato War of 1948? Well it began in a farm down my Illinois-" That's were I shut out. I had heard story at the family reunion every year, and it was dreadfully boring. I startled at the sound of an engine outside. I recognized as the one from earlier. That staring boy was back. I straightened up and strengthened my glare. Let's give him something to stare at. The lady was at the front door opening it before the guy could even ring. I heard them talking low and watched as four instead of two people came back. One was of course the staring boy. The other two must have been brothers. Both had blonde hair and were about the same height. Must be twins.

The woman was speaking up, interrupting Auntie.

"Um, hello. Michael, this is my eighteen year old son Darryl Jr." She indicated the staring boy. "And this is my fourteen year old son Sodapop and his friend Stephen." She pointed to the two boys. Was Sodapop really his name? Kinda cool…. The other kid, Stephen, coughed the name Steve under his brother, I watched as smiling lady glared at him.

"Boys, this is Michael Henderson. He's Miss Hattie's great nephew." The Sodapop kid muttered what might have been a hello while Darryl Jr. came over and stuck his hand out at me.

"Hello. It is very nice to have a new member of the neighborhood." God, could he get any queerer? I shot him my best annoyed glare till he dropped his hand. I saw Smiling Lady gesture for her sons to follow her into the kitchen. Whatever. I heard a low argument take place and they come out, smiling. Bunch of morons.

"Um, dinner is ready. If you could all make your way to the dining room." She sounded all nervous and crap. I trailed behind everyone else. It wasn't like I wasn't hungry, Just didn't want to appear that way. They seated themselves and I took the only position available, between Sodapop and the black-haired kid.

"So you're from New York, huh?" Sodapop attempted to strike up conversation.

"Yup." Not even. At least got the hint and turned back to his plate. Smiling Lady came out with a huge turkey on a platter and began passing it around. When it got to me I took a very small amount and passed it to Sodapop. I'd eat when I got back to Auntie's afterword. I didn't take any of the salad, mashed potatoes, or stuffing when it came around. The dinner table was really quiet, people busy trying to decide what to do. I just nibbled on my chicken and glared at the plate. The chicken was actually pretty good. Aunt Hattie just kept eating my total discomfort. Such a charming lady. The table was cleared and dessert was brought out. Now Smiling Lady was the one to start the conversation.

"So, Michael. Have you had a chance to look around town yet?"

"No." She visibly brightened.

"Well, Sodapop had a great idea. Sodapop." Soda visibly flinched next to me then sighed.

"Oh yeah. Michael, you're, like, invited to go out with me and the gang tonight." His idea my ass. I was about to say hell no, but Auntie beat me to it.

"Oh, he'd simply _love_ to go." Old frigging bat! She shot me a warning glare and I spoke up.

"Yeah, sounds fun." I saw all the kids at the table grimace. So they must all be part of the 'gang'. Oh joy.

I looked back at my chocolate cake and scowled.

**A/N: Yahooooo! Another chapter up. Next is coming soon. Please review.**


	11. Worst Night Ever Part 2

**Chapter 11-Worst Night Ever Part 2**

**Sodapop POV.**

This kid had some serious issues. Not only did he glare at everything and everybody the entire night, he also barely ate. What was his malfunction? Finally, my mother made a one last effort to help at dessert. She hinted for me to ask him to go with the gang. I was about to not do it, but the thought of dealing with her wrath all night just didn't settle right, so I spoke up and asked. I could tell he was about to say no, when Miss. Battie spoke up and aid he would just _love_ to tag along. Old Bat! I saw everyone at the table grimace and felt myself do the same. I wouldn't want to be stuck with this kid more than an hour, let alone a whole night. Old Battie shot him a glare and he muttered it sounded fun. Maybe we could ditch him tonight. It was an evil though, but it's not like it wasn't justified. I excused my self to go get ready and when I came back out, Miss. Battie was gone, leaving her disgruntle turd behind. This was going to be an awesome night. Darry was collecting his keys and instruction from mom. Go to an appropriate place; be nice, blah, blah, blah. Everyone looked unhappy now. Not how I want to spend the last week of my vacation. Carting around _him_. Mom gave us a wide smile and told us to have fun. I grumbled and went out to Darry's truck. Michael got in and buckled his seatbelt, still silent. He was such a killjoy. Everybody was nervously looking around as we drove downtown. Except for Michael, he just glared out the front window. Ooookay then. Darry dropped us off at the Dingo.

"Aren't you supposed to come with us?"

"Look, I don't want to spend my last week of vacation carting around my brother and his friends. I'll be back in four hours."

"I'll tell mom."

"Then I'll tell mom about the time you and Steve drank all her tequila." Fair enough.

"Whatever." I started to walk away, but I was called back.

"Hey Soda, be nice to him, please. He might warm up to you." No he wouldn't. I just snorted and walked back to the gang. Darry roared off into the night to do whatever it is he does.

"Well, what'dya want to do first?"

"Milkshakes?" Johnny offered. I nodded.

"Sounds good. Let's go." We walked to into the Dingo and ordered four milkshakes. I didn't even bother to order one for Michael, knew it would be a waste of money. As it was, he just sat in the booth and glared at us some more. He was starting to be as cantankerous as Battie. After the shakes, we went around to cars and said hi to the people we knew. One car held Curly Shepard.

"Hey Curly. Out of Juvi again?"  
"For the time being. Who's the scowling square behind you?" I knew who he was talking about without even looking.

"Oh, that's Michael. You know old Battie?"  
"Yeah, what of it?"

"That's her great nephew. You can see the family resemblance." I snickered and Curly joined in.

"Hey man, want to go paint the liquor store again." I chuckled. Last week we had spray painted the liquor store. They still hadn't caught us.

"Nah man. Gotta take care of the scowling square." That's how we spent the night, going car to car and chatting it up with other gangs and friends.

"Hey Two-bit, Darry'll be here any minuet. We gotta go." I pulled Two-bit off some girl he was kissing.

"What man?"  
"Darry's gonna be here soon. Help me find Steve and Johnny." Johnny was found smoking behind the building and Steve was talking to someone in the Shepard Gang.

"Alright. Everybody here? Good, let's go."

"Wait, where' that angry kid?" Aw, shit, where'd Michael wonder off to? One night and I lose the kid.

"I saw him go into the bathroom." Johnny offered. I sighed and was about to tell them to wait when an idea struck me. What wait?

"Hey guys, want to pull a prank on the newbie?" This had Two-bit and Steve's attention quickly.

"Yeah, what are we gonna do?"

"We're going to go back to the Dingo and wait for Darry." They looked confused.

"And leave him!" Now they were laughing.

"Yeah, let's do it." Johnny didn't look convinced however.

"I don't know guys. That doesn't seem right."  
"Come on Johnny, he'll laugh it off. It'll be great." Okay, I admit that the plan was a bit more evil than funny, but what should I care? The kid had been a huge cantankerous sore all night. He deserved this. Johnny agreed and we sniggered out of the parking lot and headed back across the street. Right at eleven, Darry pulled up.

"Hey guys. Have fun?"

"Yeah, loads." He noticed how many got in the truck

"Where is Michael?" I thought up a lie quick.

"He found a ride with someone else. He was making friends." I prayed he would believe me. It worked. Darry just nodded and started the truck.

**A/N: Mwahaha! Please Review!**


	12. Worst Night Ever Part 3

**Chapter 12-Worst Night Ever part 3**

**Michael POV.**

After 'the gang' dragged me around a bit, we ended up across the street, where they were saying high to a whole bunch of people. I was standing behind Sodapop when I heard him mention my name. I listened in.

"Oh, that's Michael. You know old Battie?"  
"Yeah, what of it?" Said some tuff looking kid.

"That's her great nephew. You can see the family resemblance." Then they snickered. Assholes!

Trying not to feel hurt, I went ahead and went inside the store we were located at, asking to use the bathroom. I saw the dark quiet kid smoking on the wall on the way in. I wasn't in there very long, maybe ten minuets. I was trying to think of my next plan of action. Maybe I should be a bit nicer. Yeah, then they might accept me. I would need friends for the year I was here. I took a deep breath and walked outside, ready to make amends. But they weren't there. I looked around. Nope, nobody I knew. Shit! They had left me! I looked around once more. Yep, those assholes! Well, that was just dandy, looked like I would have to walk home on my own. I fumed over to the street when a terrifying thought struck me. I didn't know the way home. I had only gotten here this afternoon. It was also too dark to see any familiar sights, so it wasn't like I could follow that. I looked left and right, and going with my gut, went right. There lights from restaurants and stores glowing to right and left making the whole thing lonelier. I suddenly felt my age then. I was really twelve, and I hated it. I felt tears forming and cursed at myself. Not now! I was supposed to be a tuff greaser. Greasers don't even know how to cry. I hurriedly wiped them as I left the safety of the lights and walked on down the pitch black road. I couldn't even see a foot in front of me; it was scaring the shit out of me. Would I run into something, was I still on the side of the road. More tears were coming and I couldn't stop them. Dammit, I should have been nicer to those boys. Maybe they wouldn't have ditched me. I thought of what my gang back in New York would do in my place. They would act tuff, that was for sure. What would Thumper do though? He certainly wouldn't cry. He would seek revenge for the evil act. Then that's what I would do. The Curtis gang would pay for this, in the worst way possible. They would all regret ever messing with me. I was still crying, but at least I was able to smile a bit, even if I couldn't see were I was going. All of the sudden, I was bathed in light. I turned around right before I was hit with a hard and very painful force.

**Darry POV.**

I knew was Sodapop was lying; he isn't very good at it. So after I dropped the gang off at the house, I went back out to figure out what the hell they done to get Michael out of there hair. Nobody in the Ding had seen him. I would have to drive around and try and find a small missing kid. I left on the road out of Downtown Tulsa and was so occupied with thinking, I didn't pay attention to the road until I felt a small thump on my truck. Oh shit, I had hit somebody!

A/N: Mwhahaha. Cliffhanger! Please Review.


	13. The Next Morning

**Chapter 13-Part 4-The Next Morning**

**Michael POV.**

I was in extreme pain for the second time that month. Except this time, I could feel every part of it. My whole body hurt. I almost wished I could get another concussion, just so I could ignore the pain. The thing that had hit me, a truck, stopped as soon as it hit me. I heard cussing and a door slam. Something appeared above me, but I was in too much pain to roll over and see who it was. More cussing, Louder and it said my name.

"Michael? Michael, can you hear me. Speak to me buddy. Can you speak?" Goddammit. I knew who it was. It was the Staring Neighbor. Darryl Jr. had friggin hit me with his truck. First I get ditched by Sodapop and then his goddamn brother hits me with a truck. What was with that family! I managed to moan one word.

"Fuck." Then I passed out.

**Darry POV.**

Shit! I go out looking for a kid and I end up hitting him! I got out of the car, cussing and walked over to him.

"Michael? Michael, can you hear me. Speak to me buddy. Can you speak?" Sodapop was so going to get it for this. Michael tried to move and managed to get pone word out before he passed out.

"Fuck." Interesting. I picked him up and dropped him off in my truck. I would just drop him off at the Emergency Room. No questions asked. I couldn't be dealing with this now. I had heard of people going to jail for like, a year for hitting somebody. I would be sent to jail. I was supposed to be a senior this year! I drove to the hospital nervously. When I got there, I carried Michael into the Emergency Room and left without a word. It was wrong, but I would get into major trouble had I stayed, I drove home cursing my self, Sodapop, and the gang the whole way. Why did they have to leave him out there? I soon as I got inside the door I yelled for Sodapop and the boys. Thank god mom and dad were out for the night. Soda come down the stairs with Steve and Johnny behind him.

"Where is Two-bit?"

"He left earlier. Why?"  
"Where is Michael Henderson?"  
"I don't Darry, with his new friends?'

"Don't lie to me Sodapop. What happened to Michael?"

"Oh, come off it. He was a sore the entire night, so I and the boys pulled a prank on him."  
"What kind of prank Sodapop?"

"We ditched him at the Dingo."

"You just left him there?"  
"Yeah, he just has to walk home"

"Walk home?"

"Yeah, ain't that far away."

"Then please explain why I ran over him just off the highway,"  
"Oh my god, you ran over Michael?"  
"Yeas Sodapop. He was not headed home."

"Why not?  
"Oh I don't know, maybe because he didn't know which way home _was_?"

"Glory! You killed Michael" Steve shouted.

"Shut up, shut up. Listen. I can't go to jail right now. I have so much going me. We're going to need to hide this. Johnny, I want you to go find Dallas. He'll know what to do." Johnny nodded fearfully and ran out the door." He was always willing to help the gang. I sighed and sat down in dad's recliner. I ran over a kid. A kid my brother had lost. Mom and dad would kill us if they found out. I took deep breaths and waited for Dallas to com. I heard footsteps and thought my parents were home, but no, it was thankfully Johnny and Dally.

"What's the problem boys?"

"Darry might have killed someone." Dally snapped his head to me.  
"I'm sure I didn't kill him. This new kid moved across the street and mom and dad wanted us to take him out for the night, you know, show him around." Soda picked up.

"So Darry dropped us off and sped away, even though he was supposed to stay. Well the kid was a real Ass, all night. Wouldn't even talk to us. Around the time Darry was supposed to pick us up, he went to the bathroom so we ditched him and told Darry he had gotten a ride home." I picked up again.

"Well I knew Sodapop was lying. So I went out to see what had happened to him. I was so caught up in my thoughts, I kinda ran over him coming on to the highway." Dally shook his head.

"Ya'll are meaner than me, and that's saying something. Where id he now?"

"I dropped him off in the hospital. Just left him in the waiting room. He'll be okay, right?"

"Yeah. You'll be fine too. Just don't give it away that you were the one who did it. The kid probably doesn't even know it was you. Make sure no one finds out." I nodded as I heard an engine come into the driveway.

"Crap, Mom and dad are home. Time to see if we can lie our way out of this.' We all waited as footsteps come up to the house and mom and dad appeared in the door way.

"Hi kids, how was hanging out with the neighbor boy."

"Oh it was great mom. He was real quiet, but he was okay. He decided he would walk home. Get acquainted with the town." That seems like a good enough lie.

"Oh Dallas, you're here. You should have been here earlier. We had a welcoming dinner for Miss. Hattie's great nephew Michael."

"A, that's okay Mrs. Curtis, I had stuff going on anyway." Mom and dad walked upstairs, obviously buying our lie. I relaxed visibly, as did the others.

"See guys, not hard at all. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to dealing my 'stuff'. See ya tomorrow." He left us brewing in our guilt. I headed up to bed with my head hanging. I should be ashamed of myself. What would old Miss. Hattie say when she found out? Sodapop followed me and went to his room, shutting the door behind him. I knew how he felt. I sat on my bed and tried to figure this out. I had already lied to mom and dad. I guess I would have to follow this through. I sighed and laid down on my bed, closing my eyes.

**Michael POV.**

I came to in a hospital waiting room. That asshole Darryl Jr. had dropped me off in a hospital. I looked around for him, but he didn't seem to be here. I was still in a lot of pain, but I managed to get up and walk over to the receptionist.

"Um, when will the doctor see me?'

"Who are you?"

"Didn't he kid who dropped me off give you information?'  
"What kid?" He didn't even bother to sign me in? My neighbors sucked. I sighed and left. I still didn't know which way home was, so I just went to the nearest park and fell asleep on a bench.

It was the damned chirping birds that woke me up the next morning. They just wouldn't shut up. I peeked through squinted eyes and saw the sun shining way too bright for my liking. I was still sore from last night; you would be too if you had just got hit by fast truck. I got up and looked around. I was literally in the middle of nowhere. The hospital was right there, but there wasn't any way they could help me. I had no money with me. Looked like I would have to hitch hike my ass into town. The highway was right there, so I just did what I had always seen my friends in the gang do. I stuck my thumb out and began walking. Several cars passed me before an old Junker stopped. It was a young greaser.  
"Hey, you need a ride?"

"Yeah, I'm headed to Tulsa." He snorted.

"You know you're headed the wrong way, right?"

"No. Can you give me a ride?"  
"Sure. Hope in." I got in the passenger seat and he turned and started off for the other way.

"I'm Tim by the way. Tim Shepard. Where in Tulsa are you headed anyway?'

"I'm not exactly sure." He gave me an odd look.

"Don't you live there?"

"Yeah, but I just moved in with my aunt yesterday. I don't know the address yet."

"Well, I know everybody in Tulsa, who's your aunt?"

"Hattie Henderson." He started laughing.  
"You're Batty Hattie's nephew?" I nodded.

"Hell, I didn't even know she had a nephew. What brings you out here?"

"I got into a bit of trouble up in New York, so my parents sent me down here."

"Got hauled in by the cops or something?' I had to think about that. They hadn't really hauled me in. After they released my from the hospital, they had taken my fingerprints and story then released me to my parents. Might as well make it sound tougher though.

"Yeah, for fighting."

"Tuff enough."He whistled. We were entering Tulsa now. It was a lot more barren in the morning." We pulled up into my street. I chanced a look at the neighbor's house. It was calm and serene. Didn't lock like anyone was up. I turned back to Tim.

"Do you know who lives there?" I pointed to the house.

"Yeah, the Curtis's. There gang is always over there."

"What gang?"  
"The Curtis gang." Ah, so the gang had a name. Not an inventive one, but it was a name. Tim was talking.

"Funny, I would have thought Mrs. Curtis would have had a welcoming dinner for you."

"She did." He gave me a questioning look.

"It's a long story." I said getting out.  
"Hey kid." I turned.

"Yeah?"  
"You wanna hang out with me and my gang tonight?"

"All depends. You part of the Curtis gang?"  
"Umm, no?"

"Then sure."

"Great, pick you up at seven." I headed inside Auntie's house, ready for her wrath. She was no where to be seen. I shrugged it off and went to my bedroom. At first I thought I had accidently walked into the storage room. There were boxes everywhere. Then I saw the names on said boxes. Michael T. Henderson. Oh yeah, all my stuff. I began climbing, opening, and unpacking boxes. Most of it was clothing. Clothing that would never be caught in. What did she do, buy me a whole new wardrobe? Probably. There was a n envelope in one box. You would never guess what it had. Yup, more money. Now though, I would have a use for it. Looked like I would need a whole new wardrobe. I stonped out into the hall and dialed up my mom.

"Uh, hello?' She answered.

"Mother. What did you do to all my clothes?"

"Oh, hi pumpkin. How are you?"

"Don't avoid the question. Where are my clothes?"

"There all on there way to Tulsa. Did they not arrive yet?"

"No. A whole bunch of crappy clothes arrived. What are these?"  
"Well, I wanted you to look nice for the new school year."

"Mom! I live on the East side now! I'll be a walking target if I wear these."  
"There not that bad. Have you gotten your placement results form the school yet?"  
"I don't know I'll check." The door bell rang.  
"Mom, I gotta go. Someone's at the door."

"Alright dear. Love you."

"Bye." I hung up and walked to the door. Oh, it was the crappy Curtis's. I pulled it open with a scowl just for them. Their surprise was written clearly on their faces to see me. I came up with a sarcastic voice.

"Oh boys. I never got a chance to thank you! Thank you for ditching me in an unfamiliar par of town in the middle of the night." I directed to Sodapop. "And thank you for running me over with your goddamn truck then ditching me at a hospital. What do you want?" I scowled. They both shifted uncomfortably." Some of your Aunts mail got delivered to our house by accident." He held out a small stack of papers. I snatched them up and slammed the door. It wasn't very neighborly, but neither were they.

"A finished chapter on the best day ever. YAAAAAY!"


	14. High School Shopping

**Chapter 14-High School**

**Sodapop POV.**

Okay, the last thing we had expected to find going over to the Henderson house was Michael. He was pissed too. We had only brought there mail (Which we had Two-Bit steal earlier) as a diversion. To see how Miss. Battie was coping. However, it was Michael who answered the door, surprising the crap out of both of us. No time to think about that now though, it was time to go back to school shopping!

**Michael POV.**

After I had slammed the door in their faces, I watched through the peephole as they departed. I sighed and looked down at the mail. Bill, bill, ohh, and one addressed to me. I checked the return address, making sure it wasn't my mother sending me friggin money. No, it was the Tulsa Town School District. Oh, my placement scores. Was I going to start the seventh grade? Hopefully. I set the other things down and went back to my room to read it. First it had the results from my quiz. I had scored perfect in everything but math. Still, that was never my best subject. I flipped the score sheet paper over. My placement paper. _Mr. Henderson, we are pleased to tell you due to your excellent placement exam results, we are placing you in the 9__th__ grade at Roger Williams High School…. _The ninth grade? As in High School. But I was only twelve! I would be made fun of, beat up, even killed if I went there. No, there must be some mistake. I reread the paper. No, they were actually placing me in high school. Dammit! I angrily threw the letter down. Now not only was I stuck here, I was about to become a punching bag for some High School Football Jock. I had heard stories form the gang about starting high school, not one of them good. There was a knock on the door outside again. Oh now what? It was the damn neighbors again. Except this time they were armed with the Smiling Lady. Wimps. I cracked open the door.

"May I help you?"

"Oh, hi young man, is you're Auntie home?" She was talking to me like I was a toddler.

"No." She probably was, but I wasn't letting these people in. I was about to shut the door when she topped me with her foot. Meddling neighbors, gotta hate 'em

"Could you give this to her then. The boys forgot to drop it off earlier." I sighed and reluctantly opened the door a little more as to snatch the later.

"Well, I have some stuff to do, so I guess I'll be seeing you." I said, closing the door again. The annoying lady stopped me again.

"You know, I'm taking the boys back to school shopping later today. You are going to be attending right?"

"Sure."

"Would you like to tag along?" My first instinct was to say no I would not like to 'tag-along' with those to assholes, but a thought struck me. I needed clothes. I had the money, but no means of transportation. I suppose I could stand them at least taking me to town. As long as Muscle Asshole didn't run me over again. I tried a smile but was sure I filed.

"Sure. What time?"

"Oh, I'll send the boys over to pick you up. Bye now!" She was even more chipper than usual and it certainly was annoying. I closed the door for good this time and looked at the envelope. It was addressed to Auntie, so I just left it on the coffee table and sat on the couch. I looked around to make sure the batty woman was around before turning the TV on. It was on some news channel and I turned it up to see what was going on in the world.

'Well I sure hope the kitty survives Tom. In leading news, a nine year old kidnapping case has reopened when New York police matched the fingerprints of a recently arrested participant of the New York Street Fight with a missing child that was kidnapped from a daycare in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The kidnapee's name has not been identified, nor has his family or kidnappers. More on this later."

"Wait, the New York fight? That had to be the one I was in. There had been a kidnapped kid there? Hope he didn't get his brains bashed in. I just shook my head and turned off the TV set and walked back to my room. Despite the fact that I had unpacked what seemed like millions of boxes of clothing this afternoon, there were still countless more. Some had even more disgusting clothes in it, while others had books and various things, including my alarm clock. I hooked that up immediately, couldn't stand to be without my time. Next I unpacked various books, all research ones. Did my mother go out shopping just for new stuff to pack me? The bigger boxes actually had my stuff in it. My old bookshelf, desk, and something that wasn't mine, a new bedside table. Why hadn't she just packed my old one? That woman sometimes confused the crap out of me. Now I had to pick something to wear. This would be my first time in town in broad daylight, so I had to look tuff, hood-like, and unafraid of anything. I picked the holiest and frayed jeans I had then grabbed a small black t shirt. I shoved my switchblade, rather _Jimmy's_ switchblade into my back pocket. While I had liked that one, it had been left in Jimmy's leg, besides this one was cooler. I searched through all the boxes, desperately trying to find my hair grease, but no luck. It's like my mom went out of her way to pack worthless shit. I went into the bathroom, looking for some kind of substitute. I looked through the cabinets. Hair gel, zit cream, and, wait. I reached behind the zit cream (What did she need that for?) and pulled up a tube. I peered closer at this. Yes, it was grease! (Again, what use is this to her?) I went back to my room and grabbed my comb. Finally, structure for my hair. I put a generous amount in my hand and ran it through my hair. The thick gunk spread through my hair with ease and began to style it. Finally, I was presentable. I checked myself in the mirror. Time to go. I returned to the living room, stopping by my room to take out all my hidden bills. Wait there was something wrong though. It was bugging me in my mind. I just couldn't put my finger on it as I walked out the door and across the street to the Curtis house.

It hadn't taken long to go shopping. After the Curtis's had gone off on there own, I had went shop crazy. I had a ton of new clothes, more bags than I could carry. Only problem now was how I would get these out to the truck. I had to enlist the help of several, if not all, of the store employee's help and it still took five trips. The entire back of the Curtis truck was full. Guess they would have to carry theirs. I put a tarp over the back and went off on my own. Smiling Lady had said we would be meeting up at ten o clock. I still had four hours to waste. I walked around now, it was just starting to get dark and the buzz around town was picking up. Now the older girls were appearing and bars were filling up. I was passing by the Dingo when I caught sight of the most gorgeous girl I'd ever seen. She was tallish, had pale skin and long black hair. She was walking in a strut, like she owned the place. It was love at first sight. I crossed the street for a closer look. She was gathering with friends now, I was hiding behind a car getting ready to come out when a voice called out behind me.

"Bulls-Eye?"

**A/N: So sorry I couldn't update more today, but I had school and stuff. Maybe on Thursday. YAY Veterans' Day!**


	15. Long Lost Friends

**A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in like forever, but I haven't had any time. Here is the long waited chapter. Please Enjoy!**

**Chapter 15-Long Lost Friends**

**Michael POV.**

"Bulls-Eye?" I whirled around at the sound of my name. Who did I know in this crappy little town that knew about my ventures in New York City? There was no one behind me but a scruffy greaser with almost white hair. I looked closer at him. He and a mean set face which was familiar, but everyone in New York had mean faces.

"Bulls-Eye? Is that you?" He spoke again. I could have sworn I had heard that voice somewhere before? But where? I was walking towards me now. I racked my brain, trying to remember. Who the hell was this kid? Why couldn't I remember him? He got closer and it suddenly dawned on me. I knew him! He was Dallas Winston, a kid who had been in our gang a few years back. He had left with his father though, for some small crappy tow. Small world. Dallas had been one of the greatest people; he had known the score of New York and had taught me a few tricks.

"Dallas? Dallas Winston, is that you?"

"Wow, I thought I had recognized you? I thought I'd never see you again. What are you doing in a ton like this, city slicker?"

"Aww, got in caught fighting, so my overprotective parents sent me out here. You know, to 'straighten up'." He just nodded and laughed.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Oh, this was the small town my dad picked out." He nodded and paused before continuing. "How you liking Tulsa?"

"Oh, it's pretty boring. Except for my next door neighbors! Man are they assholes!"

"Oh yeah, what happened?"

"So they were all trying to be friendly and crap, and they invite me out to the town my first night here. Then guess what they do. They just ditch me!"

"They just left you out here?"

"Yeah! Then, just to top the cake, one of them runs me over with his truck! And leaves e in a hospital, without any help what-so-ever!"

"The hospital?" For some reason, Dallas looked humored. Was my story amusing him?

"Yeah! What kind of bastard does that?" I asked, angry. Dallas just shrugged and put a honest face on, which he was never good at before. I was about to ask what was on his mind when a honk from behind me interrupted. It was Tim, the guy from earlier. I had completely forgotten about my plans with him.

"Hey kid. Wet by your Aunt's house, you weren't there. You still up for a night in town with the boys.

"Oh hey Tim, sorry. I was invited to go school shopping. Yeah, I'll come." Tim nodded and rolled the window up. I turned back to Dallas who was watching the exchange with a curious face.

"You know kid; hanging around Tim Sheppard isn't 'Straightening Out' right?" I shrugged.

"Have you ever known me to keep me outta trouble?" He shook his head and smiled.

"Guess not. But I'm warning you kid. Watch your back when you're with Ti and his gang. You can get into a lot of trouble with him."

"Thanks for the warning. I'll try to keep it in mind." Dallas shook his head and smiled again.

"See ya around kid." I jogged over to Tim's car and to into the back seat, where there was another guy, around my age.

"Hey kid, how's it been? Been run over anymore?" Tim asked with a chuckle.

"No, not yet." He chuckled again.

"That there is Curly, my kid brother, he should be about you age. Say hi Curly." The kid next to me just grunted.

"So, what are we doing tonight?"

"Stuff."

"What kinda stuff?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" I sighed and sat back against the cool leather as we sped off into the night.

**A/N: Whoo, another chapter done! Finally. Hope you guys liked it. Please Review!**


	16. Trouble

**A/N: I would like to address to the readers that Dallas is indeed Thumper, may I use the reference in future writing.**

**Chapter 16-Trouble**

**Soda POV.**

I personally didn't care what happened to that asshole Michael, but when Mom found all of his bags in the bag of our truck and him missing, she started freaking out. Darry seemed more worried about how we would fit all of our stuff in when his crap took up the whole space in the back of the truck. How like him. Surprisingly enough, we found Dallas nearby with a complex look on his face.

"Hey Dally! Whatya doing around town tonight?" I called. Dally's head jerked up and he looked over at me in surprise. He began to walk over.

"Oh hey Soda and Darry. What are you doing around town at this hour?"

"Back-to-School shopping. You never answered the questions. What are looking so complex about?"

"Aw, nothing. But I have a question for you. What did you say the name of that kid was that was giving you so much trouble?"

"Michael?" Darry answered. "Why, what's up?"

"Oh nothing, just wondering." He was defiantly acting weird now.

"You feeling alright, Dally?"

"Oh yeah, just thinking on how the next few days could get interesting."

"Like how?"

"Oh I don't know. They just will." What was going on with him? Was he sick or something? I was about to ask him when Darry dragged me away, back to the truck.

"What gives Darry?" I demanded as I stood up at the truck.

"Leave Dallas alone for now, Soda, I think he's sick or something. Or he's about to do something extremely stupid." The last part really sounded like him. Dallas was always doing stupid things.

"Oh, dear, do you think he could have been taken, you know the poor dear is new here." Mom was having a full blast panic attack now.

"Ma, calm down! He probably just wondered off." Darry said in an irritated voice. He hated it when mom was like this. You know, all emotional for no reason. I kinda had to agree with him though.

"Well, he's new around town! What if he gets loss? Or hurt?" For some reason, that just struck my funny bone. I mean, he had already gone put through that, right? Thanks to me and Darry! Not like that could happen again in a million years. I hadn't realized I was laughing out loud until Mom reprimanded me.

"And just what is so funny, Sodapop Curtis?" She asked in a cruel tone. I straightened up at once.

"Nothing mum. Again, he probably just went off with some new friends, we should get home, it's getting late." I could tell mom wanted to argue, but she just got into the passenger seat and kept her mouth shut, buckling her seatbelt in jerky movements. I exchanged a glance with Darry and moved for the door letting myself into the back. Mom as sniffling, she was crying.

"What's wrong mom?" I asked cautiously.

"I'm just thinking about my baby." She sniffled. I sighed. She always referred to Ponyboy, my missing brother, as her 'baby' despite the fact he was like, twelve now.

"He would have turned twelve today." She said, extracting her wallet from her purse. Oh crap, not the wallet picture. You see, mom had one picture of Ponyboy that she carried everywhere with her. It wasn't the only picture of him we owned, but it was her favorite. It featured all of us about ten years ago, me, Darry, and Ponyboy. We we're all grinning, having a great old time. It was one of the last photos of Pony.

"Oh, he was such a darling child, was the quiet one really." She was warming up on her Pony spiel now.

"He had the cutest laugh and you and he used to play together all the time, Soda, you were like best friends."

"I know mom, you tell me that ever year." Darry was getting in now and he frowned when he saw mom looking at the tell-tale black and white wallet picture.

"Aww, mom, not that thing again. You promised you wouldn't bring that out this year." He groaned.

"Oh Darryl, look at what a happy family you guys made. I've never seen you all so happy….if only…"Mom trailed off and stared at the picture. I sighed and sat back in the seat, exchanging a look with Darry. He just shook his head and buckled himself into the driver's seat. She would go on like this all night, and there wasn't much we could do about it. I let my mind drift away from mom's chatter and thought back to Michael. Where the hell could he have gotten off to? And what the hell were we going to tell his old aunt. We were passing through the outer skirts of downtown Tulsa when about three police cars sped past us. Looks like some poor shmuck was about to get his.

**Michael POV.**

I guess kinda deserved the result of hanging with Tim and Curly. It's not like that they were radiating innocent rays, but I never knew the night would turn into this. It had started out as harmless joyriding with Tim and his brother and friend. Then we had snuck into the local movie house to see a really interesting movie about world war two. I would have be perfectly fine spending rest of the night there, and so would the others, if the rest of Tim's friends hadn't showed, demanding a good time. Then I was forced to follow them to a near-by drug store. I had figured that they were hungry or thirsty or something but no. Tim's gang thought that a good time was robbing a convenience store. Something I didn't find out about until they came running out with a heater and a sack of money. They ran toward me and Curly, who had been left outside, and yelled for us to run. Lucky for me, I'm the fastest runner from my old school, so within minutes, the others were far behind me as were the sirens and lights. I was on a street lined with houses now, so I ducked down behind a near-by trashcan. I couldn't See what was happening to the others, but I was sure that most f them were being arrested. I heard the fat approach of footsteps belonging to at least two people. I ducked back behind the trashcan and waited.

"We're safe now. T won't come this far up." I heard a familiar voice. I came out from the can. It was Tim, and Curly. They had both run the same direction I had run from.

"You guys got away too?" I asked. They were both doubled over, panting. Tim looked up and smirked.

"So this was where you got off to Michael. As soon as you heard them fuzz, you booked it out of there." Tim panted.

"Yeah well, if I get caught by the fuzz again, my parents will flip. Best to stay away from certain troubles." Tim just laughed.

"Shoot, you ain't afraid of the slammer are ya?"

"Nope, just some pissed off parents. Say, you wouldn't happen to know the way to my Aunt Hattie's house would you?" I asked. It was getting awful late and I was sure she would notice my absence sooner or later. Tim and Curly nodded and began walking up the dark street, me following closely behind.

**A/N: I want to apologize deeply to all those who were waiting for the next chapter. I swear I won't take as long next chapter. Please Review!**


	17. Surprise!

**Chapter 17-Surprise!**

**Michael POV.**

Tim and Curly chatted all they was to Aunt Hattie's house. They were acting like they weren't almost arrested minuets ago. I sighed and tuned them out, focusing on the ground as we walked. It was the flashing lights that attracted my attention. We had arrived at Aunt Hattie's, but it was surrounded by a police car and an ambulance. At first I thought the fuzz had caught me for the robbery thing, but then why was the ambulance there? Tim and Curly had stopped and were staring at the house. I went passed them and ran up to the house to a cop who was coming out the door

"Excuse me, what's going on?" I asked as I approached.

"Do you live here young man?"

"Yes, with my Aunt Hattie." What the hell was going on.

"Hattie Henderson?" The cop asked.

"Yes. What's going on?" I repeated. The cop shook his head.

"It appears your Aunt had a stroke. A neighbor concerned about not seeing her all day came over to check on her, found her on her bedroom floor, passed out."

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked. No wonder I hadn't seen the old lady in a while. Now I felt a trickling of shame run though me.

"Yeah, but she's going to be in the hospital for a while. Do you have someone you can stay with kid?"

"Yes." I lied through my teeth. I didn't know my way around town, let alone someone to stay with. The cop believed me though and walked way. I remembered that Tim and Curly had come with me and turned to see an empty sidewalk. Just as well, I didn't figure they would stick around. The cop car was leaving now, leaving me standing in an empty, dark drive-way, with no clue what do to next. I walked into the dark house and began switching on lights. It was cold and lonely in the house and I had no clue what to do now. My parents were vacationing somewhere, so I wasn't going to call them. I didn't know anyone in Tulsa, so I was stuck by myself in the empty house. That night was my first night completely on my own.

**The Next Day**

I awoke on my bed the next morning to a hammering on the door. I groaned and waited for Aunt Hattie to answer the damn door. But then I remembered, Aunt Hattie was in the hospital and was stuck on my own. I grumbled to myself as I forced myself out of the warm cozy bed and to the door. I pulled the door open the door to reveal my two least favorite people.

"What do _you_ two want?" I snarled and the Curtis brothers. They were both standing on my porch holding numerous bags. My bags I realized, from last night. I had completely forgotten about my new clothes. Sodapop thrust all the bags he was carrying at me.

"You left your damn clothes in our truck last night, and then just ditched us. Do you realize how worried our mother was?" He growled. Darryl put all the bags inside calmly and just glared at me. Like I cared. I did feel a bit sorry or Mrs. Curtis though. She had been really nice and I hadn't meant to be mean to her.

"We would like to see your Aunt." Darryl said. Were they serious? They were going to tell my Aunt me? Puh-lease.

"She ain't in."

"Well, where is she?" Man these guys are annoying.

"She's at the hospital. She had a stroke last night." Then I closed the door on their surprised faces. It took me two trips to get all the clothes to my room. Then, since I had no use for all the crappy clothes still packed in boxes, I started to take them out to the trash can. It was on my fifth round when I saw Mrs. Curtis hurrying across the street with her two asshole sons. God, now what? I put the box down as they came up. Mrs. Curtis had a wrapped dish in her hands.

"Oh, hi Michael. I brought you something." She shoved the covered dish in my hands.

"I figured you and whoever you're staying with could use some help with your Aunt in the hospital. You are staying with someone aren't you?" She asked eagerly, craning her neck toward the house. Nosy much?

"No." There was no use lying to her. She would find out sooner or later. She gave me a look o pure shock.

"You mean you're living all by yourself? Oh you poor helpless dear." I was almost revolted at her intensive mothering.

"You know dear, we have a spare room; we would just love it if you would stay over." She was gushing. Was Mrs. Curtis serious? No way in hell would I stay with the two assholes from hell!

"No, Mrs. Curtis, that's alright. I'll be fine on my own. No problem at all." I said, trying to be polite. Naturally, it didn't work.

"Oh please, I insist." She gushed again.

Oh god, now what do I do.

**Sodapop POV.**

Our mom had ordered us to bring Michael crap over to his house and summon his Aunt for some afternoon tea, so after breakfast; I and Darry went to do the tasks. We loaded all the clothes on our arms and walked across the street. Darry was the one to knock on the door. To my surprise, Michael answered it looking as if he had just woken up. A look of annoyance crossed across his face when he recognized us.

"What do _you_ two want?" He snarled at us. Not very friendly.

"You left your damn clothes in our truck last night, and then just ditched us. Do you realize how worried our mother was?" Our mother had been most unbearable yesterday. Only our father had managed to calm her down. I threw my bags inside the house as Darry continued.

"We would like to speak to your Aunt."

"She ain't in." He said hastily. What would the old lady be doing out this early.

"Well, where is she?"

"She's at the hospital. She had a stroke last night." Then he slammed the door on us. Old Miss. Battie had a stroke. I looked over at Darry who looked as shocked as I felt.

"C'mon. We gotta tell mom." Darry said, dragging me behind him. We ran back across the street and into the house.

"Ma!" I yelled. "Ma!"

"Soda, would you stop that racket. I'm in the kitchen. Now come in here and talk like a civilized boy." I sighed and ran into the kitchen.

"Is Miss. Hattie comin' over later?" My mom asked tiredly from the stove.

"No." I said breathlessly. "And she won't be coming over for a while." Mom looked up in surprise.

"Why? She always comes over."

"She can't. She's in the hospital." Darry said, coming in. Mom let out a shriek.

"The hospital? Why? What happened? Is she okay? What-" Darry stopped her.

"Mom, how would we know? That Michael kid just told us."

"Oh Michael! Is he okay?" She cried. God she is emotional.

"Yeah mom, he's just peachy." She didn't look convinced and shooed us out of the kitchen. Darry walked up to his room and I settled into the living room just as the front door opened and closed quietly. I looked up and grinned.

"Hiya Johnny. How's it goin'?" Johnny, one of the gang, was always over here and was pretty much part of family.

"Fine." It was only a little loud than a whisper. My mother was now clattering around the kitchen and Johnny sent me a questioning look.

"Old Batty is in the hospital so mom's going to be baking the Michael kid something. To ease his troubles I guess." Johnny just nodded. The front banged open again and two loud voices filled the room.

"Hey Steve. Two-bit." Two-bit grinned and plopped down on the couch next to me.

"Hey there Sodie pop. Heard a rumor about your kid neighbor over there."

"Yeah?"

"Yep. Heard He almost got bused by the fuzz last night. Got it for hanging with Tim and his group." Tim finished.

"He was hanging out with Tim and them last night?" Steve nodded.

"Really. Cause this morning I found out that his Aunt got sent to the hospital. Had a stroke." Two-bit and Steve looked at me in total surprise.

"Old Batty had a stroke?" I nodded.

"So what happened to the kid?"

"He's on his own, I guess. Wasn't too happy when we went and saw him earlier."

"Why were you over at his house anyway? Don't you hate the kid?" Steve asked.

"Well the ass left his clothes in the back of the truck last night when we oh so kindly took him back to school shopping. Guess I know where he got off to now." Mom came out of the kitchen smelling of chicken.

"Sodapop, where's Darryl?"

"Up in his room ma."I answered. My attention riveted on the TV.

"Go tell him to get presentable."

"Why. Where are we goin?"

"To bring Michael a nice casserole."

"Aww, why do w have to go? Can't you just drop it off yourself?" I groaned. Steve snickered from dad's recliner.

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis! I can't believe you. You are going to help me deliver this casserole to that poor Michael boy and that's final. Now go get Darryl." I groaned to myself and got off the couch. Mom went to the kitchen again.

"Ugh, I don't see why I gotta help take the damn dish over. She knows I don't lie that kid." I grumbled, making my way up the stairs

Steve just snickered again

**Later**

Mom made us put a minimal amount of grease in our hair and put on our best clothes. Then she warned us we were not to upset 'that poor Michael boy' in anyway. Whatever. We left the boys at the house since they aren't officially part of the family and we set off across the street. Michael was taking a box out to the trash can. He saw u and dropped the box, waiting until we were caught up with him.

"Oh, hi Michael. I brought you something." Mom shoved the covered casserole dish into his hands.

He looked at it uncomfortably.

"I figured you and whoever you're staying with could use some help with your Aunt in the hospital. You are staying with someone aren't you?" Mom continued, cutting to the point.

"No" Michael monotoned. This, of course, set mom off

"You mean you're living all by yourself? Oh you poor helpless dear." I had to hold the laugh in as Michael went to slightly uncomfortable to way embarrassed.

"You know dear, we have a spare room; we would just love it if you would stay over." This took me by surprise. We didn't have an extra room. Unless…no, she couldn't be talking about _that_ room. It was Pony's room. Not even mom went into that room, no one did. In fact, when my baby brother had disappeared, my mother had closed the door and it was never opened again.

"No, Mrs. Curtis, that's alright. I'll be fine on my own. No problem at all."He mumbled. Mom just waved it off.

"No problem deary. Now you just go back to the house with us, and we'll co get your stuff later." I couldn't believe this. Now not only did I have to put up with his crappy attitude, but I had to live with it to? What would happen next?

**Tada! This chapter is a bit of an apology for being late with my other chapter. Please Review!**


	18. Moved Again

**Chapter 18-Moved Again**

**Steve POV.**

Sodapop had ditched us to go and deliver that casserole to the grumpy Michael boy. The gang was sitting in the living room when Sodapop stormed in and stormed upstairs without even looking at us. Confused, I looked out the door as Darry came in slightly pissed too.

"What the hell happened Darry?" I sputtered. I've never seen Soda that mad before.

"Mom invited Michael to stay with us while his Aunt's in the hospital." He grumbled. Oh, that made sense. But why was he unhappy.

"Ah, so Michael is going to be bunking with Soda then?" I asked attentively.

"Worse. He's going to be sleeping in my baby brother's room." He choked on the last part. I understood why they were so upset now. I would be to if an ungrateful brat was going to be sleeping in lost brother's room. I felt sorry for Soda and Darry now. Mrs. Curtis was coming through the door now followed by a sulking Michael.

"Hello boys. Guess who's going to be staying over at our house for a while?" She said in a happy tone. No one answered.

"Right. Well, Michael, why don't you follow me to Soda's room? We'll have to get you a bed for the guest room, so for right now, you can bunk with Soda." The kid grimaced but followed Mrs. Curtis upstairs. As soon as he was out of earshot, Two-bit leaned over to me and hissed.

"I thought he was supposed to stay in the baby's room. They closed the room after, remember?" I whispered back. A shout above interrupted Two-bit's reply.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S STAYING IN HERE?" It was Soda, who sounded as pissed as ever.

"Now Soda, calm down. Pony's bed is still in the other room, so we'll have to get another one. For now, I need him to bunk with you. It will just be a week tops. Please, Soda. One week, I promise." Mrs. Curtis sounded close to tears; I had to feel sorry for Soda. There was a grumbled reply I couldn't make out and Soda came stomping down the stairs, ignoring us for the second time that day, and stalked out the door, slamming it behind him again on the way out. Mrs. Curtis came bustling back down and went into the kitchen, clanging around. Michael and Darryl just stayed upstairs. There was a lot of tension in the air, so I took off soon after with Two-bit on my heels. We left Johnny there and went to Buck's, hoping for an early buzz.

**Soda POV.**

It was bad enough that my own mother had auctioned off my dead baby brother's room, but now I had to share a room with the worst kid on the block until she got a bed for Pony's room. I was so angry I was seeing red. After mom had used her pity act on me, I got out of that stupid house. I wanted to do something to get rid of the feeling, but I wasn't sure what until I came upon a bar. Buck's bar. I had heard all sorts of rumors about Buck, how he rarely ever checked ID, and a lot of my greaser friends went to him to get drunk. I had been warned about going here from my parents, but I didn't care. I sulked across the street and into the active bar.

**Darryl POV.**

I had retreated to my room after mom had betrayed the family by inviting a complete stranger to stay in Pony's room. I had been pretty shocked at first, but now I was just plain angry. Soda was too, I could tell. He stormed back to the house, didn't even stop to talk to the guys we had left behind. I came in after him and the guys began questioning me. I didn't really feel like sitting there and talking. I gave them a short version before going up to my room. I locked myself in as my other me upstairs. However, instead of taking Michael to the room across from mine, Pony's room. Instead, I heard Mom and Michael go past my room and into Soda's next to mine. I could feel a storm brewing so I ran over and put my ear to the wall, not that I needed to.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S STAYING IN HERE?" I'm pretty sure I've never heard Soda yell that loud. It made my ear hurt. I jumped away from the wall so I missed mom's reply, not that I cared what she said. She would get Soda to agree one way or another and sure enough I heard Soda storm out of his room and the house. Mom followed and a little later I heard some of the guys leave. I was reading a book when I heard dad come home. He and Mom talked for a while before he headed upstairs and came to my room.

"Darryl, can I come in?" He asked, knocking.

"Sure dad." He came in and sat on my bed. I watched him from my desk.

"Has Soda come back yet?" I had been listening for Soda to come in through his window, knowing he wouldn't go through the door.

"No." Dad nodded.

"Look, can you go ad find him please. I'll go talk to our new guest."

"Sure dad." If I had to guess where Soda was, I would say wherever Steve was. I grabbed my keys and started guessing where the two could be. There was the Dingo. Or maybe lot. Unfortunately, neither were there, but I did find Johnny at the lot, his parents must be fighting. I looked all over the town, even on parts o the Soc territory, but he just couldn't be found. I was about to give up and check if he was back at home when I came across Tim and Curly at the park.

"Well, what do we have here?" Tim slurred, sitting on a swing.

"Hello Tim. Have you seen Soda tonight?" I asked as politely as possible. It's not that I didn't like Tim; he was just bad company while drunk.

"Ah, the youngest Curtis missing? Isn't it funny how whenever a greaser goes missing they always come to me?"

"Look Tim, do you know where he is or not?" I asked testily.

"Yeah, I know where your little brother is. And his two young friends. Saw them myself." Tim sniggered. I waited, but no answer came.

"Well where are they?" Tim laughed again.

"Where all hip young greasers go on a Saturday night, Darry." Curly laughed at this. God, were they both drunk. Tried to think of where greaser's usually went on Saturday, but the only place I could think of was Buck's. I shook m head. No, Soda wasn't stupid and he didn't want to be killed by my parents. Or me.

"Is he at Buck's, Tim?" I was dreading the answer.

"Ah, and he gets it on the first try." Tim laughed. I was ready to kill now. I was gripping my wheel so hard my knuckles were white. I was probably going a little too fast for my own good, but I didn't care. I couldn't believe Soda would do something that stupid. Both my parents and I had warned him of the dangers of Bucks and he ignore us. He was dead meat. I pulled into the driveway of Buck's bar and slammed on the breaks. I didn't even take the keys out of the truck, no need to. The people around here were too drunk to start a car. There was a party going on at the bar, so it was jam-packed with people. They were all dancing and getting drunk; I thought I'd never find my kid brother. I asked a ton f people, but none of them could tell me a coherent sentence. Finally, I heard a familiar laugh from a room in Buck's bar. It was Two-bi, along with a passed out Steve. Soda wasn't with them, but I knew I was closer to finding Soda. I grabbed Two-bit, who was swaying and reeked of whiskey and puke.

"Two-bit. Hey, Two-bit." Two-bit's grey eyes focused and me.

"Hey Darry! What are you doing here? I didn't know you went here. Yeah, Soda said-"

"Soda! Two-bit, where's Soda?" I shook him, trying to get him to answer me.

"Hey stop the shaking. Soda went home." He grumbled, trying to push me away. I dropped him and ran back out to the car. If Soda got home before me he would run into mom and dad, drunk. I needed to stop him, find an excuse to keep mom and dad away till he was sober. If Soda was as drunk as Steve and Two-bit, he would be wandering around, probably trying to find home. I started back at downtown and found him a lot easier. He was yelling at someone. He was defiantly drunk and was waving his fists around angrily. As I got out and approached, I recognized the other person as Michael. What was he doing here? And why was Soda so pissed.

"Don't you dare insult my family, goddamit? Ponyboy was twice the man you'll ever be and he was only three. And you know what else? You, you're, you're a-a-a dick!" Soda slurred.

"Soda, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Are you drunk?" Michael questioned, surprised, missing another flailing of Soda's arms.

"Don't you mock me? Go to hell!" The Soda lunged t Michael, causing both to fall backwards. Michael, shocked at the sudden attack, allowed Soda a few hits before he pushed Soda off and got up, pissed now.

"What the fuck is your problem Soda? Get the hell away from me!" Michael turned around and began to walk away only to have Soda pounce again. This time, to my horror, Soda jumped on Michael so hard he pushed both of them through a nearby store window, and they both disappeared behind a shower of glass. Before, I had been frozen in place, but now I ran over to the store, some grocery store. Alarms were going off as I looked through the glassless window, but neither of the boys was there. The broken glass inside the store was covered in blood, and looked around desperately for the boys. I head shouts inside of the store and heard the thumps of people fighting. I was about to shout at them to get the hell out when I heard the distant sirens. Horrified I backed away quickly through the throngs of gathering onlookers and ran back to the car. What the hell do I do now? In minuets, my brother and house guest would be in cuffs, and for once, I felt sorry for Michael. I mean, I had no idea why he was downtown, but he probably hadn't been looking for a fight with drunken Sodapop. The flashing lights were in view now as I pulled out. There was nothing I could do except go home and warn mom and dad. I passed the cop cars on my way out and felt nothing but shame.

**A/N: I as planning on writing Ponyboy/Michaels POV of all this, but it's really long, plus that was the POV in which they find out about Michael being a lost Curtis. Can't wait! Please Review!**


	19. Drama

**Chapter 19-Drama**

**Michael POV.**

I had lain in Soda's bed after Soda had stormed out and couldn't help but feel a little sad. Was I really that unlikable? Mrs. Curtis busied herself with cooking for the rest of the day, but when Mr. Curtis came home, I felt myself get a little more scared. Mrs. Curtis didn't exactly say Mr. Curtis agreed, but would he disagree?

I heard him approach Darry's room and after some quiet talking he knocked on my door.

"Michael, can I come in?" He asked.

"Yes." I sat up and waited as he crossed the room.

"So, I heard about your Aunt. I'm really sorry. You are welcome to stay as long as you'd like. I would also like to apologize for my sons' behavior. They are really polite, just a little surprised that my wife welcomed you into Pony's room. I am too, to be honest." I knew they didn't hate me because of that, but I was curious about this Ponyboy fellow.

"Yeah, who's Ponyboy?" I asked.

"He was our son back when the boys were young."

"Was?"

"He disappeared when he was three." Mr. Curtis said sadly. I felt bad for asking.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That must have been sad."

"Yes, it was. After his abruptly disappearance, we closed his room, and just never re-entered it. That's why we were all so surprised Mrs. Curtis invited you to stay." There was an awkward silence then, I mean, what can you say after something as sad as that.

"Well, you're more than welcome to come downstairs. In fact, you are just like one of our sons from this point out." I gave him a weak smile before heading downstairs with him. He went back into the kitchen with his wife and I wandered out into the living room. It was empty of the boys now, I'm assuming they had all had gone home. The TV was still on and its glow illuminated the living room. It was the pictures on the fireplace that caught my eye. There were tons of them, all of the boys, ranging from baby to now. I looked closer. They were cute when they were younger, I thought, and I caught sight of something that just about made my hear stop. In one of them, there was another little boy with younger Darryl and Sodapop. He was the youngest, you could just tell, and he looked a little like Soda. But what made me stop to look were the familiar features of said boy. He had reddish brown hair, green-grey eyes and a smile that was all too familiar. It was….me. I knew it was because my parents had taken a dozen photos when I was younger, so I had seen quite a lot of younger me photos. When had I ever been over to the Curtis's before? I hadn't had my first visit to Aunt Battie's till I was nine and I would have remembered if I had met boys like the Curtis's. I looked back at the photo. Funny enough, this photo wasn't like any I had seen before. I was a lot younger, maybe two or three. In all my photos at home I was like, four. I was way too interested now. I turned the framed picture over and slid out the back, holding the picture right so I could read it. My heart stopped beating, I was sure of it. My blood went cold and I dropped the picture and ran for the door as the frame broke on the floor. No, it was impossible. But then again, I was 101% sure that was my picture with the Curtis brothers. The name had to be wrong. But it explained a lot. Why I never had any baby pictures, why I didn't look like my parents. I was halfway down the block, before an explanation came to me. I had probably had a visit to my Aunt's house earlier than I thought, and had met the Curtis's, I had just forgotten or something. And that was probably around the time the kid went missing, so a grieve stricken Mrs. Curtis had just labeled it as her son's name by mistake. That was it. I relaxed and I mustered up a weak smile for myself. I began walking in a slow pace downtown, might as well take a nice walk through town. I wonder where the Curtis boys had run off too. I was in downtown now, and the town was lit up for the night. It felt nice just to walk around on my own. I was passing a grocery store when a yell from behind stopped me.

"Hey asshole, who the hell do you think you are?" The voice was familiar and I whirled around to face the unhappy voice. It was….Soda? He looked like crap though. His eyes were half opened and he was swaying really badly.

"Soda?" Was he okay. I walked toward him to help him. He didn't look so good.

"Who the hell do you think you are, huh?" He asked again. "Who are you to dare enter my brother's room? My innocent little brother's room?" What the hell? He was making no sense. I got he was pissed about me sleeping in his little brother's, Ponyboy, room. The picture from earlier came up.

"Soda I'm real sorry about your little brother." I started but Soda came at me, missing by several inches.

"Don't you dare insult my family, goddamit. Ponyboy was twice the man you'll ever be and he was only three. And you know what else? You, you're, you're a-a-a dick!" Soda slurred. He sounded awful drunk.

"Soda, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Are you drunk?" I asked as flailed at me again, but I dodged. He got more pissed

"Don't you mock me? Go to hell!" He came again, but I didn't have time to dodge. He got a few good hits in before I threw him off me. Now I was out of patience.

"What the fuck is your problem Soda? Get the hell away from me!" I turned and walked away only to have him lunge as soon I turned my back. He came with such force it threw me off balance and I came in contact with the grocery store glass behind me. It broke and I felt about a thousand horrible pains as I fell on it with Sodapop. A ringing alarm brought me to my senses. _Oh shit_, I thought looking around, _we had fallen into a store_. I got up and ran away from the window, panicking. This was the second time this week, what was with this place. I had to get out of here, but not through the window. Too many witnesses. I got up and ran toward the back of the store. Unfortunately, the drunken Soda got up to and followed me, still looking for a fight. Now I didn't want to fight though, I was trying to get the out of there. I defended myself the best I could but he was persistent. Pretty soon, I was surrounded by flashing lights and my stomach dropped. There was no way to get out of this. Nowhere to run to. Soda stopped attacking, looking confused. The sounds of shouting men surrounded us. There were footsteps and in seconds we were surrounded. Sodapop still looked awfully confused. The rest was a blur. I remember being forced down to the ground and my hands being bound I was roughly shoved out of the door and into a cop car. Soda was put into another. Next thing I know, I'm sitting behind bars with Soda. He was sobering up though, so he was a little clear-minded.

"Ugh, what's going on? Why does my head hurt? And where am I?" He groaned.

"You're in the slammer. You got drunk and are now hung over. And thanks to you, my parents are going to kill me." I said shortly. He seemed to realize I was there too.

"Michael? Ugh, why the hell are you here? And what did you do to get us both in the slammer?" Was he blaming this on me? Not even!

"Don't you dare turn this on me! If it wasn't for you and drunken tendencies, we wouldn't be in this mess." I practically screamed. He looked at me in surprise.

"Drunk? I got drunk? Last thing I remember I was at Buck's putting back shots with Two-bit and Steve. But I was only buzzed."

"Well guess what? You got drunk, tracked me down while I was walking through downtown and started to pick a fight. Then, you pounced when I tried to walk away, but threw us both through a store window, thus summoning the police. Right now I got charges of fighting in public and breaking and entering." I informed him. "Do you realize my parents will flip when they find out?" He had the decency to look ashamed.

"Look I'm sorry…." I stopped him.

"You shouldn't be sorry for me. You got fighting in public, breaking and entering, drunk and disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. The way I see it, you're in a lot more trouble than me." I said with a smirk.

"Have my parents come yet?"

"No, but I heard them calling your house. Judging from the yelling, it won't be pretty."

"The cops were yelling? Why?" I snickered.

"Who said the cops were yelling? It was your mother." He went pale.

"I am soooo dead." He whimpered. Not as dead as I would be. I might be saved though. I mean, when they were doing my fingerprints and stuff they had complained of not being able to reach my parents. Maybe they never would. Yeah, wishful thinking. I was dreading my mother's reaction even more so than my fathers. She would go all weepy on me again, and I'd to withstand the relentless attention. There was an awkward silence now, as if neither of us knew what to say. Thankfully, Soda spoke first.

"Look, I'm really sorry. For jumping you, I mean. I was just upset about mom and Pony." There it was again. The kid who had freaked me out.

"What's the deal with him anyway? I mean, I know he disappeared when he was three and all, but there must be more. You guys are real sensitive about him." Truth be told, I still had it in my mind that I was Ponyboy. That picture really threw me off. Perhaps a little evidence that he wasn't me would help.

"Yeah, well, I still miss him. He was my best friend before school started." Soda said sadly.

"How old would he be now?"

"Aww, twelve. His birthday would have been yesterday. Wish he was here."

"Yeah, how exactly did he disappear?" Thankfully, Soda still a little drunk so he didn't take the questioning to heart.

"Mom dropped him off at preschool one day and someone just came in and took him. Said he was the father. He was never seen again."

"So technically he could still be alive?"

"Yeah, but we just gave up hope of that." I wracked my brain of all the memories I had at an early age. None of them matched his description except for one. It was dim, I mean _reeeeally_ dim. It could have been my imagination. I was in a room full of kids when an odd man, no one I recognized, came in and picked me up. He carried me outside into a truck I had never seen before and I had a feeling this upset, after that I was pulling blanks. Then again, it might not have been a real memory. It might be something I saw on TV or something. I turned to Soda and was about to tell him about what I was thinking about when a guard taped on the bars.

"Michael, uh, Henderson?" He asked looking at some papers in his hands. I stood up.

"Yeah?"

"Please come with me." He opened the lock and stepped inside with a pair of cuffs. I assumed the position on the wall and after being frisked I was led outside of the cell in cuffs. I looked back at Soda, who was clearly experiencing the repercussions of getting drunk. I was led away from the cell and made sure I was out of Soda's earshot before turning to my officer.

"Um, officer, may I ask who is here to pick me up?" I figured that was why I had been led out of there.

"You ain't goin' anywhere, kid."  
"Then where _am_ I going."

"You're being put into protective custody. Protective Custody?

"Why?"

"Because according to the fingerprints we just got from you, you are a wanted kidnapee."

Uh-oh.

**A/N: Wow, big chapter. I have a question to any who read fan fiction a lot. There is this story I have been trying to find about Two-bit's sister who writes a diary about the events in The Outsiders. It was really funny but I can't seem to find it again So to any who know this story, A little help please! Happy Holidays To All! PLEASE REVIEW!**


	20. Panicking

**Chapter 20: Panicking**

**Michael/Pony POV.**

I was led to a containment unit all by itself on the other side of the police station. It was white with one plastic chair and a door with no glass. Kind of like the places they put whackos in. I got shoved inside and my hand cuffs were taken off before a door slammed and a lock clicked into place. I looked around and sat down in the chair, which was bright orange and kind of nauseating in contrast to the white room. There was nothing else to do, just sit there, bored as hell. I had no idea what time it was or how long I had been in there when the door opened a little and someone threw someone jail type clothing to me. Ohh, an orange jumper and white tee. Very fashionable.

"We will require you to hand over your civilian clothes at this moment."A rough voice said from outside. Getting the clue I tore of my dirty shirt and grungy pants and exchanged them for the ugly jumpsuit. A big blonde in followed by a short, stocky bald guy. The blonde went for the clothes while the baldy came toward me.

"It's lunch time. Get goin'" You know, for me just bein' in protective custody, they sure were rough.

"Where am I goin?" I asked as the baldy grabbed my arm and led me out of the room.

"To the cafeteria."

"But I thought I was under protective custody."

"You are. Don't mean you get special treatment." I was amazed at this. A bud back in New York had been put in protective custody when his parents had both been arrested for robbery, and he had complained about how he wasn't allowed to do anything. Not even leave his cell. It turned out 'no special treatment' meant I had to eat in a small over-crowded cafeteria a separate table surrounded by guards. Sure, there were a few other jailbirds sitting at my table, but nowhere near me. The other guys were way older than me and a lot mean looking. They all looked at me as if I was a piece of meat they would just love to beat up. I gulped and looked down at my tray instead. It was filed with green stuff that could have been vegetables, a brown chunk swimming in goopy brown sludge, a way stale biscuit, and a plastic cup of water. Yummy. I ate the roll first since it was the only identifiable thing on the tray. Then I ate the green stuff, which was a little hard to get down. As I was chocking down some if the brown food, a familiar voice spoke up next to me.

"What are in for kid?" My head snapped up and a wide grin spread on my face.

"Thumper! What are you doing here?" He was sitting about three feet away, as close as the guards would allow, grinning at me.

"Ah, I got busted swipin some cigarettes, so I'm in for the next four days." Why was I not surprised?

"Harsh."

"Not as bad as some stuff. What are you doing in here? And why are these brutus's standing around you?"

"I'm under protective custody. Some stuff is happening." I decided not to mention the fact that I was possibly the Curtis's long lost son. I myself still hadn't wrapped my mind around that. He just nodded, not pushing.

"So how do you like this food?"

"Just like mom's cooking." I retorted sarcastically. He grinned at me before a hand came down on my me shoulder. I looked up to see the baldy leering at me.

"I hate to break up this sentimental get together between you two hoods, but your meal time is over. Let's go." He pulled me up and marched away. I turned and gave Dallas an apologetic smile. He just shrugged. I thought for sure I was being taken back to my cell, but we took a detour on the way there. Instead I ended up in another white room with a black glass window and a table with two chairs. An interrogation room. But what was I being integrated for? The baldy shoved me toward a chair and left hastily. Now what? I sat there for a good fifteen minutes before a man in a suit came in and sat in across from me with a fat folder. He was looking at the folder with a frown as he sat.

"Are you Ponyboy Michael Curtis?"

"No."

"Really, because you're fingerprints state otherwise." The man had yet to actually look up. Now he was setting aside some papers, pictures. After e got all photographs and documents he set aside the folder and looked at me for the first time. He had a five o' clock shadow and the inquisitive look of a detective. He pulled the first picture off the pile and held it up. It was a picture of my parents.

"Do you recognize these people?"

"Yeah, there me mom and dad." The man nodded and set it down o the other side before showing another. This one was of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis.

"Yeah, their neighbors." Again no reply. He nodded and placed it in the stack and picked up the next picture. This one caused a reaction. It was a shot of a run-down building, a nursery school. But I was positive I had seen it before. For some reason, I knew that just inside the doors, there was a desk that had a smiling lady that signed kids in. I knew that exactly nine o' clock a bell would sound and the day would start. I don't know how I knew this. I just did.

"A nursery here?" I said meekly. The guy raised his eyebrows but set it aside also. Now he placed two documents in front of me. They were both birth certificates. One was mine, the one I had seen a million times. The other was for Ponyboy. My heart was in my throat now. His was ridiculous. I may not be like parents, but there was no way I was the Curtis kid. Impossible.

"That's my birth certificate. The other one I don't know." I said coldly before he could ask. He gave me a look before depositing them with the pictures. Next was a horrifyingly familiar. It was the picture from the Curtis house. The one that had started this whole thing.

"Who are these people?"

"Me and the Curtis brothers." I knew what was coming.

"But it says Ponyboy. Why would that be?"

"Mislabeled?" I suggested.

"Are you sure, because it matches this one." He held up another picture of a younger version of me. I was about two, but it was defiantly me.

"Do you know where I found these?"

"No, where?" I knew, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"The Curtis house. This is also labeled Ponyboy Curtis. Why is that?" I refused to speak then.

"No comments?"

"Yeah, I'm done here." The guy looked pissed.

"Look kid-" He was interrupted by the door bursting open. A fat guy in police garb came in.

"Stew, the chief says your times up." The investigator looked mega pissed.

"But I'm not finished." He hissed.

"Well, Chief says we can't keep him in protective custody unless we have hard evidence."

"He has matching fingerprints."

"He has fingerprints that _may _match." Now they were talking as if I wasn't there.

"Well, what do with him then?"

"Put him back in the cell with the other kid. He is here for breaking and entering." The fat guy said, turning away.

This isn't over Bob." The inspector hissed. These two obviously didn't like each other. He turned back to me, taking a pair of handcuffs out.

"Alright kid, against the wall." I got up and stood against the wall, facing the white cement. Once he had the cuffs nice and tight, he led me down the hall and through a hall of regular jail cells. I was thrown in one of the last ones. I rubbed my wrists were I had been cuffed when a bored voice came out from the corner of the cell.

"Your back." It was of course Sodapop, the last person I wanted to see right now.

"Why are you still here? Didn't your parents bust you out of here?"

"No. I have to wait to see a judge since this is my second offense."

"You've been in here before?" Funny, Soda didn't seem the jailbird type.

"Yup, for disturbing the peace." He said proudly.

"What did you do?"

"Handstands." I couldn't stop the snort that escaped.

"You got jailed for doing _handstands_ in _public_?" I had never heard of anything so stupid. He frowned at me.

"Oh, if you're so smart on how to get arrested, how many times have you got arrested?"

"Zero." I said, blood rushing to my face. A smug look replaced his angry one.

"That's what I thought. Anyway, where did you go earlier?" I contemplated telling him the truth and decided to do it. I mean, he would find out sooner or later.

"I was placed in protective custody because I'm supposed to be a kidnap victim." I said offhanded. He clearly hadn't expected me to say this. He gave me a shocked look before rolling his eyes. He clearly also didn't believe me.

"Oh really? And just who are you really." He said it so cockily; I just couldn't help but to wipe that smug look off his damn face.

"Your little brother." His face went from smug to dead serious in about two nanoseconds.

"Hey, that ain't funny."

"Wasn't joking." I replied. It was wrong to do this to the kid, but hey, this s me we're talking about

"I mean it Michael, you'd better shut up. I won't have you mocking my dead brother."

"Who said I was dead?" This was a step too far; you could see it in Sodapop's eyes.

"Why you son of-" He called me about every name under the sun before he stopped to take a breath.

"You finished?"

"You'd better be lucky I don't smash your face in you insolent swine."

"As if. I was just telling you the truth. I had to get dragged away from the cell just so I could deny the fact that I'm your long lost brother. Don't cop a fit with me." Sodapop seemed to be considering this.

"Why would they think you were Pony?"

"Because my fingerprints might match his. They ain't sure. I'm sure I'm gonna have to give more soon." Soda just snorted and shook his head. He still didn't believe me. Wouldn't if I was in _his_ shoes. I changed the subject before things got out hand again and he tried to pulverize me.

"Did your mom stop by?" He winced.

"Yeah, she ain't too happy. Took forever for her to stop yelling." I nodded.

"I'm gonna die when my parents know I've got in trouble with the police again. My mom's not going to stop crying for weeks and Dad will send me somewhere 'safer'. Probably Alaska." I snorted. Soda gave me a funny look.

"I thought you hadn't been arrested before?"

"I haven't. Earlier this summer I got into a big gang rumble and got sent to the hospital instead of jai. I think my parents bribed the judge into making me do community service instead of time." I explained.

"You have to do community service?"

"When school starts."

"But school starts tomorrow." I hadn't realized that. I mean, I knew that it was close, but not that close. Looked like I would miss my first day of school. Soda too.

"Looks like you're going to have to miss the first day Soda." He snorted at me.

"As if we'd that lucky. I heard the guards talking. Since we can't get in front of a judge for a week. My parents are comin' to pick us up tonight so we can receive our education. That's punishment right there if you ask me." I didn't think so. I had always sorta liked school. Besides, I would be starting ninth grade. I got to thinking about what grade Soda would be in.

"Hey Soda, are you starting high school tomorrow?"

"Yep. Freshman year." He grimaced.

"So I am!" I grinned. He looked at me funnily.

"But you're like _twelve_."

"I skipped some grades." I defended. See what happens when I tried to be nice?

"Oh, so you're a book hording brown noser?" I took this as a major insult. Just because I was smarter than he was was no reason to be so rude.

"If it wasn't for your hick town education system, I wouldn't be skippin' grades!"

"Then go back to New York." Unable to think of a good come-back, just sat and glowered at him.

I didn't care if he was my alleged brother, I still hate his guts.

**A/N: Whew, for some reason this chapter took forever. I would like to thank all those who reviewed. THANKS! PLEASE REVIEW!**


	21. Last Day O Summer

**Chapter 21: Last Day Of Summer**

**Sodapop POV**

After Ponyboy had decided to play jackass of the month, we were pretty silent. He sat glowering at me and I just ignored him. Pretty soon it was getting dark out and a guard came to the bars.

"Your ride's here. Both of you are out." He unlocked the door and stepped back, allowing us space to leave. Finally. Michael nodded for me to go first and followed me out. I had seen my mom earlier that day and she had looked way pissed. Now, though, she just looked tired. I don't know how she managed to get Michael out. She turned to us as we approached. Her attention directly went to Michael

"Oh Michael dear, I wasn't able to see you earlier. Are you doing okay dear?" She asked. I was a bit angry she was paying attention to him more than her own son.

"I'm doing fine mom." I said loudly. Mom frowned at me.

"Not for long Sodapop Patrick Curtis. I and your father are both going to have a long with you when we get home. Get to the car." She demanded, pointing. I caught Michael's smirk on the way out and the fir of anger grew bigger.

The ride home was quiet. Extremely quiet. I could practically see the anger waves radiating off my mother so I just decided to keep my mouth shut. Michael sat in the shotgun, while I was stuck in the back. Once or twice Michael would say something to my mom and mom would smile at him and talk nicely. All she was giving me was glares. What was with that? The more time I spent with this kid the more I hated him. We arrived home to a noisy house, which instantly quieted when we walked in through the door. They obviously knew what was coming. Steve, Johnny, and Two-bit beat feet out there pretty quick. Dad was waiting in his chair, and Darry was on the couch. Looks like this would be a family affair. It wasn't this bad when I had been arrested for doin' handstands in public. Then again, I hadn't been drunk or breaking into places. I sat down next to Darry and Michael was excused upstairs. Hopefully to pack up his things. My mom stood behind my dad as he began.

"Sodapop, you do realize why we are having this family meeting, right?"

"Because I got arrested."

"Yes. Do you realize how much trouble you have cost everyone? You're mom might be fired from her job because people think she can't raise you right. Now we have to pay a large amount of money to the store you broke into-"

"I never broke into anything! It was Michael fault." I interrupted. Darry snorted next to me. What was with him?

"No it wasn't. You're the one who jumped Michael, causing both of you to fall through. In fact, none of this was Michael's fault. He was just victim to your anger toward mom." Darry said in his know-it-all voice. How the hell did he know that? He hadn't been there. Was he? I couldn't remember. All I remembered was being drunk and pissed. Then I had run into Michael.

"How the hell do you know that?" I asked incredulously.

"I was there but wasn't able to get to you to stop you in time. I left after the sirens sounded to warn mom and dad what was happening." What a kissee. I glared at him. What happened to sticking up for our gang members?

"Thankfully he got to us before the police came. What were you thinking Sodapop? Getting drunk? Going to Buck's? Attacking a member of your household?" That one pushed me passed my off the edge I had been dangling on.

"He just a house guest, mom. Nuthin' more! Why do you keep treatin' him like he's your son or somthin'?" To my surprise, her scowl was replaced with a glowing grin. What was with this woman? She could change her mood faster than a hormone ridden teenage girl.

"Boys, there's something me and our father want to talk to you about." Dad smiled to. What ever happened to yelling at me?

"Earlier today we received a call about Ponyboy. A boy had similar fingerprints to his. Here, in Tulsa." This had my attention. Ponyboy had been found?  
"Where? How?" Darry asked excitedly.

"He got arrested when he got caught fighting with a drunk."This wiped the grin off my face. She was looking straight at me. A thought dawned on me. Earlier today Michael had said they had confused his prints with Ponyboy's. I didn't know that meant it was so close a match they had even told my parents. Then that would mean I had, no. I suddenly felt like crap. I had attacked my own brother. Darry was looking t me in pure shock. He was about to say something when a voice interrupted him. We all turned to see Michael...er, Ponyboy standing there on the steps.

"Um, do you mind if I go see my aunt. I'd figure I'd see her, let her know I'm okay." Mom gave him a warm smile.

"Of course deary. Give our best."

"Of course. Thanks." Darry got up and plucked his keys off the table by the door.

"I'll take him."

'"Uh Darryl, before you go, I would like it if you didn't mention anything we discussed just now to Michael." Mom asked, smiling. How could she ct so calm. Darry just nodded, confused. Michael looked like he couldn't care less. Darry left behind Michael and my parents turned back to me.

"Now you young man. Me and your father are extremely disappointed in you. You will be grounded until we say you're not. Now, school's tomorrow, so go get washed up and get straight to bed." My mother said before getting up and going to the kitchen to cook who knows what. My dad just gave me a look before I climbed the stairs and went into the room. A few of Michaels-Ponyboy's possessions were stacked on a chair next to the bed. I lay down on my bed instead of showering and looked up at the ceiling. My little brother was back. Ponyboy was back! But why didn't I feel excited. Actually, felt bad, but I knew why I felt that way. I had been nothing but mean to my younger brother and now he would be stuck with me until I left home. This wouldn't be comfortable for either of us.

**Darry POV.**

I had been about to admonish Soda for attacking Michael when he himself interrupted us. He wanted to o see his aunt in the hospital. I had completely forgotten about her. I volunteered myself to take him when mm gave him a cherry yes. Now I couldn't stop looking at him. I mean, now that I really looked at him, he did look a little like Pony. He noticed me looking at him and turned to face me.

"What're you looking at."

"Uh, nothing. So tell a little about your family." I asked. It sounded stupid, but I wanted to know about his kidnappers.

"You can drop the can Darryl. I already know about the Ponyboy ordeal." He interrupted. Was it that obvious. Had he been eaves dropping or something?

"How?"

"They told me when I got thrown into Protective Custody."

"You got thrown into Protective Custody?" My he had had busy day.

"Yup. Then I got interrogated by a stupid investigator."

"So they aren't you still there?" I asked.

"Because, the fingerprints didn't match perfectly. Mine were smudged a bit. I'm surprised that they didn't make me do it again." I shrugged too. We arrived at the hospital then and Pony got out of the car before I had even put the car into park.

**Ponyboy-Michael POV.**

I had known they were talking about me when I got sent upstairs, so I sat on the top step and waited. First they yelled at Soda a bit about his getting drunk and all. Then they go to me. After the mom told them all about the call she had received, they seemed pretty happy. I hated to ruin it, but I knew if I didn't go visit my aunt tonight, I wouldn't get to with school and all. I had to interrupt them and when I asked to go, Mrs. Curtis gladly let me go. Darryl said he would even take me. Great, they were going to be all nice and stuff. Sodapop was just staring at me so I went to the door. Before we left, Mrs. Curtis told Darry not to tell me anything about being his brother. Whatever. My older brother stared at me for the whole way before I finally looked at him and asked what? He came with some excuse to ask about my family and I told him the truth about me knowing. After that we talked about Protective Custody, which was pretty uncomfortable, so I pretty much got out of the car before he had even packed. I ran into the lit hospital and up to a pretty nurse behind a desk.

"How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for Miss. Henderson's room." I said politely.

"What is she in for."

"Stroke." The nurse rifled through some papers and nodded down one hallway to her left.

"Room 221."  
"Thank you." I walked quietly down the hall. Hospitals had always scared me. All the death and sickness just didn't sit too well. I peeked into room 221 and knocked on the door. My old Aunt looked especially old in her bed and was surrounded by other old people, talking animatedly. Hm, she usually didn't get along with people. She looked up when I knocked.  
"Michael! I was just talking to the guys and dolls about ya." She gave me a warm smile and I was sure the entire world had stopped spinning. My Aunt actually smiled at me in a nice way.

"Um, hi Aunt Hattie." I said nervously. All the other old people were looking at me now.

"Well come in, come in. What have you been up to nephew?" Nephew?

"I'm fine." Understatement of the year. "Are _you _okay?"

"Never felt better. Hey guys, did you know Michael will be starting his freshman year soon. And he's only _twelve_." There was a murmur of admiration from the old people.

"Auntie, are you sure your feeling okay?" I asked. My aunt had never said anything nice about me since I've known her.

"Of course, of course." There was a knock on the door which drew Aunt Hattie's attention from me to the door. It was if that stroke had made her a happy old lady instead of cantankerous.

"Darryl Jr.!" Aunt Hattie sang. I turned to see Darryl standing behind me. Of course he had followed me in.

"Everyone, this is Darryl Curtis Jr. He lives across the street from me. He and Michael are good friends." At the last bit, everyone nodded and smiled at Darryl. What, if I liked a person he was suddenly okay. Darryl was ushered into the room and he sent me a confused look. I shrugged and sat in an unoccupied chair near Aunt Hattie's bed. Darryl just stood there awkwardly as the old people n the room began o chat and eventually forget about us. A while later, as I as slowly zoning off, Darryl cleared his throat, snapping all attention to him.

"Michael, we need to get going. School's tomorrow and mom will kill me if we're any later."

"You start school tomorrow?" Auntie asked me.

"Yes."

"Oh, well good luck deary. Not that you'll need it."She winked at me. I got up to leave but Auntie grabbed my arm, pulling me down.

"And remember, don't quickly judge those who've done you wrong dear." She let me go, but I stared at her in shock and confusion. Where had she gotten that from? She was still as Batty as ever, for sure. I followed Darryl out to his truck and stayed silent on the ride home. Something about how Auntie had told me that piece of advice had surprised me. It was as if she knew I would need it later. But what could she have meant? Mrs. Curtis was waiting up for us and she demanded that go to bed immediately. I walked upstairs to the room I had to share with Sodapop and saw he was already asleep. I quietly walked inside and grabbed some sweatpants off the chair next to his bead. I changed in the bathroom and washed my face. By the time I was done, the downstairs had been evacuated so I took refuge on the couch. I fell asleep still thinking about what my aunt had said.


End file.
